The most recent recall effort seemed to be successful, gathering 715,833 signatures, a number that far exceeded the necessary 566,857 to represent 10% of registered voters in the country.
However, after a review of the petition, the county registrar released a statement saying, “520,050 signatures were found to be valid and 195,785 were found to be invalid. To qualify for the [November 2022] ballot, the petition required 566,857 signatures; therefore, the petition has failed to meet the sufficiency requirements and no further action shall be taken on the petition.”
In a breakdown of the invalid signatures, it is revealed that the petition – which fell short by 46,807 signatures – would have passed if the signatures were not rejected for the following categories: Different address (32,187), Mismatch Signature (9,490), and “Other” reasons (9,331).
BREAKING: The effort to recall L.A. DA @GeorgeGascon has FAILED to qualify for the ballot. The Registrar-Recorders office announced only 520,050 of the 715k+ signatures it collected were valid. It needed 566,857. Details below. @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/uoEo473QBO
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) August 15, 2022
Somehow, the LA County officials found nearly 30% of signatures on petitions to recall the highly unpopular district attorney, but during the 2020 election, the county rejected less than 1% of the mail-in ballots.
In the 2020 election, Michigan similarly failed to reject mail-in ballots after Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson instructed city clerks to ignore the signature matching law, telling them to presume the accuracy of absentee ballot signatures.
Why, then, do these petition signatures fall under so much scrutiny, but the validity of ballots for elections is nothing but an afterthought? When did it become okay for officials to pick and choose when to follow proper procedures?
