A lawsuit seeking to force a recall election for District Attorney George Gascón is still working its way through the court, according to a representative for the group.
The recall group’s spokesman called the legal arguments by the DA and L.A. County registrar’s offices “delay tactics.”
They haven’t stopped the DA’s reelection bid with his primary just a few months away.
The complaint being brought forth by the Committee to Recall George Gascón is due back in front of Judge Mitchel Beckloff on Nov. 29 for another discussion of procedural matters in the lawsuit’s challenge.
A group seeking to recall Gascón alleges Dean Logan, the county’s registrar-recorder-clerk, improperly discounted signatures in saying the group didn’t garner enough names for the recall petition.
The petitioners seeking a recall election filed arguments over why the signatures should be counted and both sides met in court last month.
With the primary election looming March 5, it seems unlikely or even possible a recall election could be ordered before then under state law.
Beckloff’s Oct. 25 ruling Oct was over several lines in the first-amended petition challenged by attorneys for the clerk and the DA’s office.
“Essentially, (Logan’s office) filed motion to strike to remove a substantial number of allegations from our complaint, including (1) bloated voted roll issue and (2) due process and equal protection challenges,” Tim Lineberger wrote in an email following the October hearing. “Overall, this is another win in that the (registrar) tried to argue they should have no accountability or oversight whatsoever on these issues and lost. The unfortunate part is that all of this litigation and obvious stonewalling and delay tactics are meant to prevent an appropriate remedy.”
The L.A. County clerk’s office has made little comment on the matter other than a statement from spokesman Mike Sanchez, who issued the following in July:
“As with the other claims made by the recall proponents, we will respond in accordance with the legal framework without regard to the political narrative.”
While there is no precedent for such an action, there technically could be a recall vote between the primary and the general if Gascón receives less than 50% of the vote in the primary, according to a source familiar with the situation who spoke on background.
A spokesman for the clerk’s office did not respond to a request for comment on this story. The DA’s office previously also has declined to comment, citing that it’s pending litigation.
