More than 715K signatures submitted to recall Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon

A total of 715,833 signatures have been submitted in a petition to recall Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon, according to a preliminary county by county election officials.

L.A. County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan announced Saturday that his office completed the first step in the review process for the recall petition, which the recall campaign submitted Wednesday, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The registrar’s office must verify the signatures no later than Aug. 17 – 30 business days from the petition’s submission on Wednesday.  

At least 566,857 signatures of voters registered to vote in L.A. County – 10% of the 5,668,570 registered voters counted in Nov. 2020 – are required before the recall can move to a vote before the county’s Board of Supervisors.

The earliest the recall election could take place is Nov. 8, alongside the general election that includes runoffs for Los Angeles city mayor and county sheriff and congressional midterms. A simple majority vote, 50% plus one, is required to oust Gascon.

The progressive district attorney has been criticized for being soft-on-crime, resulting in a crime surge as arrests dropped.

The recall effort is being headed by Gascon’s subordinate, Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami, who started a political action committee to raise funds toward the goal.

"People are scared. They're concerned for their safety," Hatami told Fox news on Thursday.

"We have a city and a county that is lawless. We have a city and a county where people feel they can do whatever they want and not be held accountable for their actions."

At least 35 California cities have voted “no confidence” against Gascon. The latest was El Monte, who unanimously passed a resolution state “D.A. Gascon’s policies have now been shown to be detrimental to public safety” after two city police officers were killed in a shootout with a felon free due to his refusal to prosecute three-strike cases.