Ernie Lou filed a complaint against Sawant on August 18, 2020, to the King County Elections Office to start the recall campaign against her.

The complaint against Sawant included allegations that she violated the law through the use of city resources for the promotion of a ballot initiative, the delegation of employment decisions to Socialist Alternative, and encouraging the creation of the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest.

An attempt was made to conduct a recall election against Richard Conlin, a member of the Seattle City Council from the 2nd position, in 2011.

Judge Carol Schapira ruled that there was not enough evidence to prove that Conlin had violated the law although she stated that he had done so for political reasons.

[10][11][12] A complaint by Ernie Lou requesting for the King County Elections Office to begin an effort to recall Sawant was made on August 18, 2020.

[13] The recall campaign also alleged that Sawant had broken the law by using city resources to promote a ballot initiative, delegated employment decisions to Socialist Alternative, and encouraged the creation of the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest.

[24] A Better Seattle, a political action committee (PAC) that supported the recall, was formed with Phillip Lloyd as its treasurer.

[33] If the recall was successful, a replacement for Sawant would have been selected by the Seattle City Council within twenty days to serve until the 2022 election.