Recall Gascon Update: Statements from Retired LA County DA Steve Cooley

 

Retired LA County District Attorney
Steve Cooley

The recent press release from the LA County Registrar-Recorder's office was a big disappointment for many Angelenos: the Recall Gascon effort did not qualify, missing the minimum signature requirement by about 40,000 signatures.

This is really disturbing outcome, considering that activists worked across the country for three months collecting 715,00 signatures, but then ultimately only 520,000 were accepted. What happened?

LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger's office sounded off their disappointment and frustration with the outcome:

Thank you for reaching out to my office. I share your disappointment in the outcome of the recall verification process. Of the total 715,833 petition signatures submitted, 88,464 were not registered voters and 43,593 were duplicated signatures – representing the majority of the unverified signatures. Regardless, I’m proud of the action taken by our L.A. County residents who stepped up and made their voices heard.

At a minimum, this recall effort has shown Gascon that the public is serious about wanting their elected D.A. to have a high focus on achieving justice for victims. Not all is lost – I’m hopeful that the recall process in and of itself will generate a sustained change in his attitude and decisions.    

Our D.A.'s effectiveness and performance will continue to be closely watched and evaluated by the public, who in two years will have another opportunity to cast their vote. I will always be a strong supporter of the democratic process. Decision-making power should always lay in the hands of the voters.

Sincerely,

Office of Supervisor Kathryn Barger

The full tally of rejected signatures is listed in the full press release from the Registrar-Recorder:

32,000 of the signatures were from different addresses. This is cause for not counting a signature?

As for the 88,000, is there any way to get around this?

I contacted retired LA County District Attorney Steve Cooley (who moved from Toluca Lake to Rolling Hills in 2012 following his retirement from the DA's office), and he shared the following information with me regarding the Recall Gascon campaign's next steps.

1. The lawyers working for the recall campaign have submitted a series of questions to th Registrar-Recorder Dean Logan in order to get more information. Those questions could not be released at this time, but they will help formulate the next series of inquiries launched by the campaign.

2. Cooley suggested that because his firm and lawyers working him issued a number of concerns regarding the standards used to verify the signatures, the county refrained from striking out more signatures than could have been removed. The standards for signature verification are "beyond reasonable doubt," as opposed to "beyond any doubt." Based on the Registrar-Recorder's press release, about 9,000 signatures were rejected because they did not match the voter rolls.

3. He then informed me that there may be a chance for us to restore signatures to the final tally once the team looks at the signatures stricken out from among the 88,000 which were supposedly not registered. Many people move within the county, and they follow the proper procedure to change their mailing address. What happens, however, is that the RR's office fails to follow through on the change. This happened to Cooley himself when he moved to Rolling Hills. He had re-registered, but when he went to vote, the polling station told him that he was not listed on the voter rolls! He ended up calling Dean Logan himself to figure out what was going on, but at the time he had to submit a provisional ballot.

So, it's likely that a number of signatures could be restored to the final tally based on a review of those signatures. I also find it suspect that about 32,000 signatures were not allowed just became the addresses didn't match. That foul-up could also be the fault of the Registrar-Record.

Last of all, Cooley shared with me that if the restored signatures bring the final threshold within a few thousand needed for the 566,000 minimum, then the Recall Gascon team will look at the signatures removed because the signatures did not match the voter rolls.

So, there is hope, faint hope, that this recall effort is not dead yet. Stay tuned.