***DONATIONS ARE NOT REQUIRED! JUST IGNORE THE DONATION SCREEN AFTER SIGNING - ONCE THAT SCREEN SHOWS, YOUR SIGNATURE IS RECORDED WHETHER OR NOT YOU DONATE TO IPETITIONS. YOU CAN JUST CLOSE THE SCREEN IF YOU LIKE. SORRY FOR THE CONFUSION! *** ***NOTE: Be sure to sign with your FIRST AND LAST NAMES, as well as providing the rest of the required information. This petition will be presented to the County Commission on November 19, and we need it to be as complete as possible. Thank you!*** Commissioners of Knox County: We the undersigned registered voters of Knox County, Tennessee, hereby request that our elected officials of the Knox County Commission frame and propose the following amendment to the Charter of Knox County, Tennessee that will allow for a Recall Provision. Voting on this amendment must take place no later than the 2008 presidential election. (A) A petition may be circulated to recall an official from office. No such petition shall be circulated until after the official has served six (6) full months in office, nor if the official has less than six (6) months left on their term in office. The petition shall contain a general statement of the grounds upon which removal is sought and shall demand that an election of a successor be held. To be valid, the petition shall contain the signatures of qualified voters equal in number to at least fifteen (15) percent of the total number of registered Knox County voters, with said signatures collected within ninety (90) days of the Election Commission\'s certification of the petition. All signatures on the petition need not be appended to one (1) paper, but each signer shall add to the signature their name as registered to vote, the street address appearing on the signer\'s voter registration card, and the date on which the petition is signed. (B) Within thirty (30) days of filing the completed petition, the election commission shall examine the petition and ascertain whether it is signed by the required number of qualified voters and shall attach to the petition their certificates showing the results of the examination. (C) A petition for recall filed at least sixty (60) days before a general county election will be placed on the ballot of such county general election. A petition filed less than sixty (60) days before an upcoming general county election will be placed on the ballot of the following general county election. (D) In a recall election, the following questions shall be presented to each qualified voter: \"Shall ________________ (name of officer) be recalled and removed from the office of ________________ (name of office)\" \"Yes ________\" \"No ________\" (E) If a majority of the voters vote \"no,\" the incumbent shall remain in office. If a majority of the voters vote \"yes,\" the incumbent shall be deemed recalled and removed from office. In cases where the incumbent is recalled, a special election to fill the vacancy shall be held no less than seventy-five (75) nor more than eighty (80) days after certification of recall by the election commission. In a special election to fill a recalled official, the candidate receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected to fill the vacancy. (F) It is a Class A misdemeanor for any person, directly or indirectly, personally or through any other person: (1) By force or threats to prevent or endeavor to prevent any qualified voter from signing or promoting a petition for recall; (2) To make use of any violence, force or restraint, or to inflict or threaten the infliction of any injury, damage, harm or loss; or (3) In any manner to practice intimidation upon or against any person in order to induce or compel such person to sign or refrain from signing a petiton for recall. (G) If any provision of this amendment shall be held unconstitutional, invalid or inapplicable to any persons or circumstances, then it is intended and declared by the people of the County that all other provisions of this amendment and their application to all other persons and circumstances shall be severable and shall not be affected by such decision. The Commission claims it wants to restore the faith of the county in its government, that it wants more citizen participation in its functions. We the undersigned challenge you to prove those words by taking action and presenting this amendment to the voters in 2008. Sincerely, The undersigned citizens of Knox County, Tennessee