The committee seeking to recall Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said a California appellate court decision handed down last week was a win for recall supporters, even though the appeals court limited their access to some voter records.
The recall supporters said the decision does not slow down their effort to allow L.A. voters the chance to remove from office the embattled county prosecutor whose policies are blamed by many for helping to fuel lawlessness and embolden criminals in the L.A. region.
The Second Appellate District Court ruled Aug. 10 that it lacked the jurisdiction to rule on the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s challenge of a preliminary injunction won by the Committee to Support the Recall of George Gascón because the registrar did not meet a timeline imposed by the state Public Records Act.
But the appeals court also concluded that a Los Angeles Superior Court judge’s order improperly called on the registrar to authorize the use of electronic voter lists outside of its examination room. In addition, the court’s order that the registrar must disclose redacted affidavits of voter registration was improper, the appeals court said.
“We view the ruling as a win largely,” Tim Lineberger, spokesman for the recall campaign, told the Southern California Record. “Essentially, what it did was, they dismissed the registrar’s appeal of Judge (James) Chalfant’s decision from Dec. 22. That decision gave us substantial access to voter records and the ability to conduct the review that we were not getting.”
Those favoring the recall of Gascón, who has been criticized for his criminal justice reform agenda and policies aimed at reducing prison sentences, turned in nearly 716,000 signatures, but the registrar later invalidated more than 195,000 of those names, causing election officials to declare recall supporters had fallen short of the threshold needed for a successful recall.
The recall committee, however, initiated a legal battle to review invalidated signatures and gain access to voter records in order to complete that review. Last month, the committee filed a separate lawsuit calling on the county to certify the recall.
“We’re probably around halfway through the examination of disqualified signatures, which was around 195,000,” Lineberger said. “We felt last month we have evidence to allow a substantive challenge.”
He added that on a daily basis, committee volunteers working out of the Registrar’s Office have found hundreds or dozens of signatures that were wrongly disqualified.
“In the long run, we believe this really was an attempt by the registrar to slow-walk the process because they knew the review would unveil what was entirely a negligently conducted examination on their part,” Lineberger said.
The Association of Deputy District Attorneys (ADDA), which has also been critical of Gascón, also sees the appellate court decision as a win.
“The Court of Appeal’s order largely reflects a victory for the recall as it upholds all but two of the orders the Superior Court made to permit the recall to better audit the registrar’s claim of invalid signatures,” the ADDA’s president, Michele Hanisse, said in a statement to the Record.
The appeals court also criticized the registrar’s lack of transparency by stating, “The Registrar’s resistance reflects the very dangers on which sections 7924.110 and 7923.500 (of the California Public Records Act) were enacted and amended,” Hanisse said.
“In the meantime, the dangers of George Gascón’s policies continue to be demonstrated daily in the news and are being felt by the residents of this county who are suffering as a result,” she said.