Organizers of the recall submitted a total of 715,833 petition signatures to the county Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s office in an effort to force Gascón into a recall election. County officials initially conducted a random sampling of the signatures to verify their validity. Based on that initial sampling, the county undertook an effort to verify all 715,833 signatures individually.
The county announced Monday, Aug. 15, that 195,783 of the signatures were invalid. In many cases, the person signing the petition was not a registered voter, and there were also more than 45,000 duplicate signatures, according to the county. According to the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s Office, the signature-verification process “was conducted in compliance with the statutory and regulatory requirements of the California Government Code, Elections Code and Code of Regulations.
Last week, organizers of the recall effort alleged the county was not adhering to current laws for signature verification, saying rules presume that a signature is valid unless there is evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the signature on the petition differs in “multiple, significant and obvious” respects from the one on file. But organizers alleged that the county was not adhering to that standard.
“The outdated training materials and procedures provided by the Registrar, along with their denial of observation rights, raise grave concerns about the verification process,” according to a statement by the campaign last week. “It appears the standards being applied to verify recall signatures are different than those mandated under current law and used in other recent elections. We remain confident that once a fair, transparent, and accurate verification process is implemented, it will ultimately determine enough signatures were submitted to qualify the recall.”
According to the county’s breakdown of invalid signatures, however, only about 9,940 were ruled to be different than the one on file, with the vast majority rejected for other reasons.
Gascón has been under fire since taking office in December 2020, when he issued a series of directives critics blasted as being soft on crime. The directives include a rule against seeking the death penalty, a ban on transferring juvenile defendants to adult court and prohibitions on filing sentencing-enhancements in most cases. Gascón has repeatedly defended his policies, saying his stances were well-known during his campaign and his election signified public support of his agenda.
On Monday, Gascón wrote on his Twitter page: “Grateful to move forward from this attempted political power grab. Rest assured LA County, the work hasn’t stopped. My primary focus has been & will always be keeping us safe & creating a more equitable justice system for all. I remain strongly committed to that work & to you.”
Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami, who vocally backed the recall effort, said he was saddened and disappointed.
“The residents of L.A. County cannot afford another two years of George Gascon’s dangerous policies,” Hatami said in a statement. “The lives of so many innocent residents are at risk. So, we all must come together to help and stand up for one another until George is gone.”
“George — a message for you: I’m not going anywhere,” Hatami said. “I will always stand with abused & neglected children, victims & their families & all the residents of L.A. County. Your days are still numbered. Just like today, I’ll be back working and fighting for the people tomorrow.”
Monday marked the second failure of an effort to recall Gascón. A separate attempt last year was halted, with organizers blaming poor timing and the impact of COVID-19 health lockdowns.
The latest recall effort appeared to gain steam throughout the signature-gathering effort, bolstered by vocal criticism of Gascón by recall organizers and the leaders of dozens of local cities that took “no confidence” votes in the district attorney. But just as the recall-petition signatures were being submitted to the county last month, there were signs of discord that threatened the effort.
A petition signature-gathering company hired by the recall campaign sued the organizers, saying they were owed nearly $470,000 for unpaid work. The lawsuit by Let the Voters Decide also accused recall organizers of a series of missteps in the process, alleging they “made multiple strategic decisions related to the collection of signatures that were directly against LTVD’s recommendations as to how to proceed.”
“For example, against LTVD’s recommendations, Defendants lowered the price they were willing to pay signature collectors during a time where the market demanded that, to prevent those individuals from leaving, Defendants maintain or increase the prices paid,” the suit alleges.
Tim Lineberger, spokesman for the recall campaign, called the lawsuit “frivolous.”
Responding to news of the recall effort’s failure, LTVD spokesman David Leibowitz said in a statement, “This could not have been handled more like amateur hour. These consultants made poor decisions and ignored solid advice at every turn. You name it, they did it, from collecting signatures on the cheap to failing to pay their bills to expensive direct mail that failed to having zero clue how to verify signatures for submission. They have no one to blame but themselves for this disaster.”
Previous related stories:
Petition signature collecting company sues Recall Gascón Committee
County clerk completes random sampling technique for Gascón recall petition
Election officials reviewing 715,833 signatures turned in to recall Gascón
Supervisor Kathryn Barger endorses recall of DA George Gascón
坚哥 says
lbrhuanghhhh
ACE says
LA COUNTY VOTER ROLLS NOT PUBLIC RECORD…
THEY WERE CLOSED TO EVERYONE BUT LAW ENFORCEMENT, BANKS AND INSURANCE COMPANIES LONG AGO…
ANYONE, INCLUDING PRIVATE DETECTIVES LIKE ME, USED TO BE ABLE TO SEARCH THEIR VOTER ROLLS AND REPORT DUPLICATES…
EACH PAPER BALLOT WAS THERE AND ANYONE COULD ACTUALLY HOLD AND EXAMINE THE BALLOTS UNDER SUPERVISION…
***
VISITING THE LA COUNTY OR OTHER COUNTY’S VOTER RECORDS WAS OUR FIRST STEP IN MOST INVESTIGATIONS…
WE WERE ABLE TO LOCATE PEOPLE AND DETERMINE IF THEY WERE SOLID, VOTING CITIZENS OR NOT. WE COULD COMPARE THEIR SIGNATURES AND SEE PAST ADDRESSES TOO…
***
THINGS CHANGED…
STEP ONE WAS TO CONVERT ALL BALLOTS TO MICROFICHE AND MOVE TO NORWALK…
STEP TWO WAS TO HIRE LOTS OF NEW AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYEES, REPLACING LONG TIME WORKERS…
STEP THREE WAS CLOSING THE PUBLIC RECORDS DOWN SO THEY DIDN’T HAVE TO SERVE THE PUBLIC ANYMORE…
***
THIS WAS BEFORE EMAIL BUT I WARNED MY MANY ATTORNEYS AND OTHERS AT THE TIME BY FAX…
NO ONE CARED…
***
ACE says
WHEN I WROTE BALLOTS…
I MEANT VOTER AFFIDAVITS…
OPPS..!
***
Dave says
Not only did the recall effort fall way short of the required signatures, but there’s also this little gem in this same edition of this paper. “A company that gathers petition signatures for state and local ballot measures sued the committee attempting to recall Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón Monday, alleging in federal court that recall organizers owe the signature-collecting firm at least $469,596 for unpaid work.” https://www.theavtimes.com/2022/07/25/petition-signature-collecting-company-sues-recall-gascon-committee/
Sounds like they can’t get their collective shi* together.
Mary Trump says
Very Trump like of them to try and stiff the firm they hired.
MiMi says
Like my VOTE counts, I happen to live in the
ANTELOPE VALLEY, WEST LANCASTER. People don’t believe me the AV is LOS ANGELES COUNTY. THE AV is left out, forgotten about, overlooked or we don’t exist.
So why vote. But, still do, hoping for a better future for all in the AV☮️
Doug says
Only in California!
Angry LA resident says
This is BS. We all know majority of each political party is against his agenda…it’s not a “political grab”…the DA shouldn’t even be making statements like that. The DA shouldn’t be siding with a political party- JUSTICE IS TO BE BLIND not claiming political ideologies.
Tim Scott says
When someone opens with “we all know” it is a sure bet they are about to say something they cannot prove and that it is most likely false.
California’s recall requirement threshold is absurdly low, as evidenced by the Newsom recall effort. They had no trouble meeting the threshold and forcing the state to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to put on a special election where Newsom again won by 20 points.
The fact that these corrupt ADAs with their constant social media attack can’t even make the threshold states pretty plainly that there is no such “majority of each political party” that is “against his agenda.” There is a special interest group that is VERY vocal, and there is a small but extremely loud group that I call “the parrot party” that repeat and amplify whatever ridiculous lies get poured into the. That’s all.
Mike says
Tim Scott do you think it’s appropriate for a DA to refuse to prosecute special circumstances such as gang related activity, weapons enhancements, or any other special circumstance when the California Penal Code requires these enhancements to be imposed?
Mike says
Tim you have no clue what you’re talking about. ADA’s must have the DA’s approval to file charges on every single case. The only position recognized by the Penal Code to prosecute crimes is the District Attorney himself. The ADA’s are merely delegated the task of preparing cases and presenting them in court on the DA’s behalf.
Therefore, every case that gets prosecuted must have Gascon’s approval for each charge and/or enhancement presented to the court. He refuses to prosecute certain crimes, which the higher courts have already decided he does not have the authority to omit charges based on his “restorative justice theory.”
The ADA’s are absolutely correct in calling him out publicly.
Anything less from the ADA’s would be considered corruption and a cover up of the misconduct of a superior officer. They have a legal and ethical duty to report the misconduct. But who do you report it to when the top official is the corrupt one? You go public. Get a clue man.
Tim Scott says
I have a clue thanks.
I am sure it is obvious enough what you have that no one needs me to point it out.
Dave says
“We all know majority of each political party is against his agenda” – apparently not accurate or close to being accurate – where’s the signatures ?
坚哥 says
lbr
Tim Scott says
Maybe now the ADAs will get back to doing their jobs.
Chris says
If only Gas-can would get back to his, which is being a prosecutor and not a public defender.
Tim Scott says
News flash…the guy is the head of a department with something like 700 prosecutors in it. “Being a prosecutor” isn’t really the job. Managing the department is the job.
Unfortunately, we elected the guy to manage the department and institute reforms, and we have no way to give him the power to actually do that. How is he supposed to get that done when the ADAs can just refuse to do their jobs and spend 90% of their time trying to get him fired? County personnel policies don’t allow him to just fire the deadwood. We have ADAs saying “well, I am a total cancer in the office, I spend my time writing op-eds about how my boss should be fired, but if he promotes anyone but me I’m gonna sue the county.” And they get away with it!
Overall I think Gascon’s job is impossible, but I dunno if a wholesale rewrite of county employment practices to give him the authority he needs would be a good idea.
Steve says
Kind of hard for the ADAs to get back to their jobs when they aren’t allowed to prosecute under the law, including the three strikes law passed by voters. Even the CA court of appeal found Gascon to be violating the law.
Let me guess: you’re either a BLM rioter/looter or a liberal white hipster loon.
Tim Scott says
The only thing keeping them from doing their jobs is the time they are spending on failed recall campaigns.
Beecee says
“Let me guess: you’re either a BLM rioter/looter or a liberal white hipster loon”
Definitely the latter but replace hipster with nerd.
Iconoclast says
Don’t the Recall people get a certain amount of days to collect additional signatures?
Dave says
No – when you start a recall you are given a specified number of days to collect enough required signatures. That’s it. Want additional time, start another recall attempt and waste our TAXPAYER DOLLARS. We the TAXPAYER ARE PAYING FOR YOUR TEMPER TANTRUMS.
America's Most Pointless Pundit says
No Dave. We the taxpayers are paying for an exponential increase in violent crime that threatens our safety and property, all thanks to that schmuck Gascon. LA Democratic voters are f__king stupid and crazy.
LEARN TO PROTECT YOURSELF!