La Legislature Voting Bills update

[Anita Garcia]

Last week Louisiana Legislature killed voting rights bills for displaced voters in Louisiana.
The bills were brought up again this week, here is the result:
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BATON ROUGE -- A Senate committee unanimously passed legislation Wednesday that would force state elections officials to provide political candidates a list of voters who have been displaced by Hurricanes Rita and Katrina, a document that has been kept confidential so far.

The Senate Committee on Senate and Governmental Affairs sent Senate Bill 637 by Sen. Charles Jones, D-Monroe, to the Senate floor. Jones said he will not move the bill until he meets with Attorney General Charles Foti and Secretary of State Al Ater to make sure the list can be made available in its present form.

The bill would take effect May 1, nine days after the April 22 New Orleans primary but well in advance of the May 20 city runoffs, but an amendment to the bill would allow the list to be turned over sooner if Foti and Ater can agree to the terms of the list's release and use.

The panel also deadlocked 3-3 on a motion to kill Senate Bill 437 by Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, a measure to authorize Ater's office, in times of a declared emergency or disaster when voters have been displaced, to open polling precincts in out-of-state areas where Louisiana residents are temporarily living.

The bill failed to pass last week on an identical 3-3 vote, and Fields asked to have the bill reheard Wednesday. Fields said he might ask the seven-member panel for a third hearing.

Fields prolonged debate on his bill as long as he could to give two panel members -- Sens. Reggie Dupre, D-Montegut, and Rob Marionneaux, D-Livonia -- a chance to show up "because they said they wanted to vote on the bill." Dupre did arrive and joined Jones and Fields in voting for it; Sens. Jay Dardenne, R-Baton Rouge; Noble Ellington, D-Winnsboro; and Chris Ullo, D-Gretna, voted against it.

Easing absentee rule

The panel approved without objection Fields' Senate Bill 433 that would repeal provisions in law that require anyone who registers to vote by mail to cast an absentee ballot in person before being allowed to vote absentee by mail.

Fields' bill says people who have registered to vote by mail can cast an absentee ballot by mail if the voters sign an affidavit before a notary or two witnesses swearing under penalty of perjury they are registered voters in their home parish.

Senate President Pro Tem Diana Bajoie, D-New Orleans, said not allowing voters who have registered by mail to vote by mail "is meant to stop people from voting. It was done several years ago, and we need to change it permanently. We should be doing things to make it easier for people to vote."

If Fields' bill survives the Senate floor, it would then go to a more conservative House committee that has killed a similar bill.

Jones' bill mandating state officials to turn over the list of evacuees -- a document that has never been converted to a list of registered voters by Ater's office -- has been held as confidential by Ater. Ater aides testified that the secretary of state has relied on legal advice from Foti in denying the information to politicians, candidates for office or political groups.

"It appears the attorney general is working diligently . . . to not release the information," Fields said. "It is absolutely incredible to me that people are running for office in New Orleans and they (Ater and Foti) have held that list to their chest very closely. . . . We have a public election with private voting rolls" that prevent candidates from mailing information to voters to tell them their stands on issues.

Privacy concerns

Assistant Attorney General Roy Mongrue denied the allegation and said FEMA gave the data to the state on the condition that it not be made public. The information was solely to help Ater's office reconstruct voter rolls. The list is being held confidential to protect privacy rights of FEMA aid recipients, Mongrue said.

He told Jones that he is not sure the list could be made public even if the bill passes. He said the state might have to go to court or seek permission from FEMA to release the list.

Ullo and Dardenne warned that the changes could open the door to another round of election lawsuits.

Later Wednesday, the Senate voted 20-14 to reject Fields' Senate Bill 291 requiring Ater's office to automatically send absentee ballots to displaced voters in times of a declared emergencies. State law now requires a person to mail in an application to request an absentee ballot.

"This was not their choice, they were forced to leave out of their homes," Fields argued, contending the state should make it easier for them to vote while displaced.

Dardenne said the bill would send "ballots to be voted anywhere and everywhere." He said even members of the military stationed abroad must request a ballot.