Organizers fell nearly 47,000 signatures short of qualifying the recall election for the ballot
By SCOTT SCHWEBKE. Orange County Register
An effort to recall embattled Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón was rejected Monday, Aug. 15, by election officials, who announced that organizers fell nearly 47,000 signatures short of qualifying for the ballot.
The recall campaign submitted 717,000 signatures, of which 520,050 signatures were found to be valid and 195,783 were deemed invalid. according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s Office. To qualify for the ballot, the recall petition required 566,857 valid signatures.
Following is a breakdown of the disqualified signatures:
- Not registered: 88,464
- Duplicate signatures: 43,593
- Different address: 32,187
- Mismatched signatures: 9,490
- Canceled: 7,344
- Out-of-county address: 5,374
- Other: 9,331
Elise Moore, a spokesperson for Gascón, said she is pleased by the county’s determination.
Tim Lineberger, a spokesman for the Recall District Attorney George Gascón campaign, said the petition results are “surprising and disappointing,” but added the organization plans to exercise its legal authority to review the rejected signatures and verification process to “ensure no voter was disenfranchised.”
Nonetheless, he said in a statement, more than half a million residents spoke loudly about their dissatisfaction in the reform-minded Gascón, who has served less than two years as district attorney.
“To deprive them of the opportunity to restore public safety in their own communities is heartbreaking,” Lineberger said. “And to interpret this in any other way other than a wholesale rejection of Gascón’s dangerous policies would be disingenuous.”
The campaign’s legal team was expected to decide Monday whether to file a writ of mandate in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking to block certification of the petition results by the county Board of Supervisors, said Steve Cooley, a former county district attorney who co-chairs the recall effort.
By comparison, the county rejected 2% of signatures as nonmatching on vote-by-mail ballots cast in the November 2018 general election and less than 1% In the 2020 election, he noted.
“Nothing is adding up in terms of the number of signatures they ruled invalid” in the recall petition, Cooley said Monday. “It doesn’t comport with signature validation and verification of being eligible. It seems out whack.”
Cooley believes those responsible for examining petition signatures used outdated verification training materials from 2017 and not from this year’s updated law.
Previous recall effort
An initial attempt to recall Gascón fizzled in early 2021, when organizers apparently were hampered by the rapid spread of COVID-19. The second attempt, launched in October 2021, has been bolstered by a no-confidence vote from officials in 36 cities and endorsements from several unlikely, high-profile supporters, such as former Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck.
“I based my support for the election of District Attorney George Gascón on the hope he would advance public safety in Los Angeles and because of our close personal relationship of over 30 years,” Beck said at the time. “After observing the negative effects of his policies and practices on public safety, I am compelled to rescind that endorsement.
“I have spent the majority of my life protecting and serving the people of Los Angeles and the men and women of its police department. I believe they would be made safer and be better served by a district attorney that emphasizes the rights of victims and the safety of our police officers.”
Gascón, who took office in December 2020, has issued nine directives that his critics maintain are friendly to criminal defendants. Among the most controversial are the elimination of cash bail and sentence enhancements and an end to the prosecution of juveniles in the adult court system, regardless of the seriousness of the crime. However, he has since retreated from some of those blanket policies.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said she decided to support Gascón’s recall because she believes his “zero bail” policy interferes with the Alternatives to Incarceration Diversion Program and its ability to help individuals suffering from addiction, mental illness and homelessness.
“Diversion programs like this one seize a narrow window of opportunity to offer treatment and housing to arrested individuals who’ve hit rock bottom,” Barger said in a statement. “But the quick release option put in place by Gascón’s policies squanders that opportunity. If there’s no rock bottom, there’s no incentive to accept help — instead, we’re left with a squandered opportunity to end suffering and help heal some of our community’s neediest individuals. As a result, I feel compelled to add my voice in support of the recall effort.”
Others who supported Gascón’s recall are Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso, Sheriff Alex Villanueva, the Los Angeles Association of Deputy District Attorneys, the Los Angeles Police Protective League and the Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association.
The ADDA is suing Gascón because it maintains many of his policies are illegal. Additionally, prosecutors in his office have criticized his cozy relationship with the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office, noting he has hired several defense attorneys from that office for prestigious, high-paying jobs in his administration.
The Prosecutors Alliance of California, comprised of a consortium of progressive attorneys, has steadfastly opposed removing Gascón, saying the recall campaign, which has generated nearly $8 million in campaign contributions, is being bankrolled by “fringe conservatives.”
“No matter how many millions they spent spreading misinformation, the rightwing mega-donors behind Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell could not convince LA voters to share their dated vision of safety and justice,” Cristine Soto DeBerry, executive director of the alliance, said Monday. “As evidenced by history, more punishment does not create more safety. It creates inequity, instability, and wastes taxpayer dollars. Reform isn’t a threat to community safety, it’s a threat to a system that has failed to make us safer.
“Los Angeles’ criminal justice reform movement has prevailed because this is a community that prefers facts over misplaced fear. With another failed recall attempt behind us, we hope opponents to reform will look to the data, science and the future, instead of relying on ineffective models from the past.”
The recall campaign’s failure to qualify for the ballot isn’t surprising, said Anne Irwin, founder and executive director of Smart Justice California, which is made up of financial backers dedicated to overhauling the state’s criminal justice laws.
“Fueled by Republican mega-donors, police unions, and others ideologically opposed to reform, the campaign followed a familiar pattern of using misinformation, fear-mongering, and the politicization of tragedies to scapegoat District Attorney George Gascón,” Irwin said in a statement. “Angelenos saw through these disingenuous tactics for a second time.”
Lineberger, the recall campaign spokesman, sees things differently.
“The removal of George Gascón from office has never been a matter of if, but when,” Lineberger said. “The citizens of Los Angeles cannot afford another two years of Gascón unleashing havoc on their streets — people’s lives are at stake.”
Source: LA Daily News