Recalling the Los Angeles District Attorney

By Charles H. Bell, Jr., Senior Partner, Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, LLP

The Los Angeles County Charter specifies that the recall procedure for county elected officials is governed by State law.  (L.A. County Charter, § 50.)  Thus, the process described in the Elections Code (§ 11000 et seq.) applies to the recall of the District Attorney.

The recall of the District Attorney may not begin until more than 90 days after he was sworn into office. (Elec. Code, § 11007.)  George Gascón was sworn into office on December 7, 2020; thus, no recall can be commenced until March 8, 2021, at the earliest.

The recall process is started by serving (either personally or by certified mail) a Notice of Intent to Recall on the District Attorney.  The Notice of Intent includes the name and title of the officer, a statement of reasons for recall, the names and addresses of the proponents, and the text of Elections Code section 11023.  (Elec. Code §§ 11020, 11041(a)(2).)  The Notice must also be filed with the Registrar of Voters and published in a newspaper of general circulation.  (Elec. Code, §§ 11020, 11021, 11022.)  The officer sought to be recalled then has 7 days after the petition is filed to prepare and file an answer, then 7 more days to serve the answer on the recall proponents.  (Elec. Code, § 11023.)

The petition itself is subject to strict legal requirements; noncomplying petition forms will be rejected as invalid.  Each section of the petition must include a request that an election be called to elect a successor to the office, a copy of the Notice of Intent to Recall (including the statement of reasons and the names of the proponents), the officer’s answer, signature spaces, and a declaration signed by the petition circulator.  (Elec. Code, §§ 11041, 11046.)  In addition, if circulation of the recall petition is paid for by a committee formed pursuant to Government Code section 82013, an “Official Top Funders” disclosure must be included on the petition itself, or as a separate document presented to signers, disclosing the top three contributors to the committee.

The recall petition format must be submitted to the elections official for approval before the recall petition may be circulated among the voters. (Elec. Code, § 11042.)

581,317 valid signatures of Los Angeles County registered voters must be obtained to qualify the recall petition and require an election.  This amount is based on 10% of the registered voters in the electoral jurisdiction (here, the County) as of the time of the last report of registration to the Secretary of State (5,813,167 registered voters as of October 19, 2020).  (Elec. Code, §§ 11221(a)(5), (b).)  Based on typical validity rates for petitions, the total number of signatures required to be collected is approximately 830,000 (assuming 70% are valid).  Note that another report of registration is due on March 1, 2021, covering all registered voters as of February 10, 2021, that will likely increase the number of signatures required on the recall petition.

The recall petition must be submitted to the Registrar of Voters within 160 days following approval of the petition format by the Registrar. (Elec. Code, § 11220(a)(5).)

If the recall petition qualifies, the Registrar of Voters will verify the recall petition signatures following their submission to the Registrar within approximately 30 business days or 60 business days (depending on whether the petition qualifies on a random sample verification or requires a full-check of all signatures).  (Elec. Code, §§ 11222, 11224, 11225.)  The election must be called by the Board of Supervisors within 14 days of the Registrar’s certification of petition sufficiency, and the election will be held not less than 88 days, nor more than 125 days, from the date of the Board’s order calling an election. (Elec. Code, §§ 11241, 11242.)

The ballot for the recall will ask the voters: “Shall George Gascón be recalled (removed) from the office of District Attorney? Yes/No”  (Elec. Code, § 11320.)  At the same election and on the same ballot shall be a list of candidates nominated to replace the official if the recall is successful.  (Elec. Code, §§11322, 11381.)  The official being recalled may NOT be listed as a nominee.

If a majority of the voters vote “YES” on the recall question, then the candidate receiving the most votes from among the list of nominees is elected to complete the unexpired term of the recalled candidate.  (Elec. Code, §§ 11384, 11385.)  If a majority of the voters vote “NO” on the recall question, the officer remains in office and recall proceedings may not be commenced again for at least 6 months.  (Elec. Code § 11007.)