Another effort to recall LA County DA George Gascón fails

Another effort to recall Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón was rejected Monday, the county clerk's office announced.

According to the county clerk's office, organizers submitted only 520,050 valid petition signatures. The recall effort required 566,857.

Recall organizers submitted a total of 715,833 petition signatures to the county Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's Office. 

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.

On Monday, the county announced that 195,783 of the signatures were invalid. County officials said there were more than 45,000 duplicate signatures and others who signed were not registered to vote.

A spokesperson for Gascon released a statement Monday saying, "We are obviously glad to move forward from this attempted political power grab, but we also understand that there is far more work that needs to be done. And we remain strongly committed to that work."

They continued, "The DA's primary focus is and has always been keeping us safe and creating a more equitable justice system for all. Today's announcement does not change that."

Gascon responded to the news on Twitter saying, "Grateful to move forward from this attempted political power grab-rest assured LA County, the work hasn't stopped."  

He continued, "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."

In response to news of the failed recall effort, Tim Lineberger, with The Recall DA George Gascón Campaign, released the following statement:

"While the initial results are surprising and disappointing, the Recall Committee intends to exercise its full statutory and legal authority to review the rejected signatures and verification process that took place, and will ultimately seek to ensure no voter was disenfranchised.

Nonetheless, according to the Registrar-Recorder, over half a million residents placed valid signatures on a petition to initiate the recall of Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon. To deprive them of the opportunity to restore public safety in their own communities is heartbreaking. And to interpret this in any other way other than a wholesale rejection of Gascon's dangerous polices would be disingenuous, or naive at best.  The over half a million signatures are in addition to 37 cities voting no confidence in the District Attorney, and over 98% of Gascon's own prosecutors supporting the recall.  

The removal of George Gascon from office has never been a matter of if, but when.  The citizens of Los Angeles cannot afford another two years of Gascon unleashing havoc on their streets – people's lives are at stake."