Jackson County voters sue to stop Frank White, election boards from delaying recall
As Jackson County officials go back and forth debating who gets to schedule a looming vote to recall County Executive Frank White, Jr. — and when they get to do it — a new bipartisan lawsuit seeks to block White, a Democrat, from interfering with the timeline of the vote.
The lawsuit — brought by former chairs of both the Democratic and Republican parties of Jackson County and two other county residents — seeks a court order upholding the proposed August 26 date for a recall election.
It argues that the county charter mandates that a recall vote take place no later than 60 days after the necessary number of signatures are submitted to the relevant election boards.
The lawsuit asserts that — regardless of what county legislators, executives or election officials say or do about it — the election’s timeline was already set the moment voters submitted their petition with enough signatures at the end of June and is now non-negotiable. It asks a county judge to tell the election boards for Jackson County and Kansas City to proceed with the vote.
The Jackson County Board of Elections declined to comment on the lawsuit or the current status of preparations for the August 26 election, citing legal advice to avoid further public statements about the recall election.
“Our attorneys are reviewing the lawsuit,” Republican director Tammy Brown said.
Election timing
After months of effort from grassroots organizers and a shadowy political action group, Jackson County voters collected 43,011 valid signatures, which is 109 more than the 42,902 needed to compel a recall. Organizers submitted the signatures on June 27, and the election boards certified them three days later.
The last day a recall vote could take place per the county charter would be either August 26 based on the day the signatures were submitted, or August 29 based on the day the signatures were certified, the lawsuit reads.
“It takes time to plan and conduct an election, and in this unprecedented time, the Election Boards should be given the most time to be able to plan and hold an election but it must be before August 29, 2025,” the lawsuit reads.
Jackson County legislators voted unanimously Monday on an ordinance set the recall election for August 26. Like White, seven of the nine legislators are Democrats.
White has 10 days to veto the ordinance, or it becomes law. It takes six votes to override a veto.
But the lawsuit argues that the timing of the election ultimately does not depend on Monday’s ordinance and should go forward no matter what White or the legislature do.
It says that different from other kinds of elections, the county charter is clear that voters petition the county’s election boards directly to prompt a recall election and that the process should not involve the legislature or executive at all.
Political blows
Along with the county charter, the lawsuit references an ordinance passed by the legislature in 2023 detailing the procedure for an election to recall the county executive. That ordinance allows recall elections to be triggered directly by election board approval of submitted signatures, the lawsuit reads.
White said Monday that the special election could cost taxpayers $2 million and hinted at taking legal action to block the legislature’s effort to schedule the vote. He has said that an August election would violate his interpretation of the 2023 ordinance.
To justify his reasoning, White referenced a line near the end of that ordinance that reads, “If no legal election date is available within sixty days, the election will occur at the next available election after certification of the Petition.”
DaRon McGee, chair of the Jackson County Legislature, issued a statement Wednesday accusing White of implementing “delaying tactics and creating imaginary conspiracies” around the recall vote process.
“To delay or obstruct that vote isn’t just unnecessary—it’s a disservice to the very people we’re supposed to represent,” McGee wrote.
The lawsuit was filed by Kansas City attorney Phil LeVota, former chair of the county Democratic party, and former county Republican chair Mark Anthony Jones, along with two other residents: Fawn Collins and Jay Perry.
It names as defendants White, the county legislature, county clerk Mary Jo Spino and the Kansas City and Jackson County election boards. In a statement issued Wednesday, White accused LeVota of being motivated by revenge after White declined to create a vacancy for him in the county’s municipal court.
“I declined because expanding the government to create a job for a political insider is exactly what I was elected to stop,” White wrote. “Even more concerning, Mr. LeVota has been openly lobbying legislators to name him interim County Executive if a recall succeeds, and at the same time, doing the bidding of the teams in the press.”
The Star’s Mike Hendricks contributed reporting.
This story was originally published July 9, 2025 at 5:49 PM.
