The recall signature mayhem

By Christopher Tidmore
Contributing Columnist

The Knights of Chaos had their usual satirical parade on the Thursday evening before Mardi Gras, and the highlight was a float entitled “City Hall Travel Agency.” From potholes to apartment scandals, the Krewe roasted Mayor LaToya Cantrell. Some in the crowd at St. Charles and Common started yelling “recall, recall, recall” as the float passed.

Ash Wednesday marks the end of the 180 day signature drive to initiate such a recall election. To obtain the 20 percent of the eligible voters in Orleans needed or 49,976 signatures, and the leaders of the petition drive Belden “Noonie Man” Batiste and Eileen Carter claimed that just 1,029 signatures were remaining to be obtained just one week ago. In response, with the threshold so close, potential signatories were making last minute carnival dashes to sign at petition locations—like the Bearded Lady Barbershop on Magazine Street – where lines sometimes stretched out of the door.

Normally under Louisiana law, the secretary of state would announce certification of the petition results within 20 days. A lawsuit filed on Wednesday, February 15, in Orleans Civil District Court however, might delay that certification process. It also could, if successful, lower the signature threshold needed.

In the lawsuit, Batiste and Carter contended that Orleans Parish Registrar of Voters Sandra Wilson failed to remove nearly 33,000 ineligible names, including 21,000 people who have moved out of the state, 9,000 people who have moved out of the parish, and 500 people who have died from the city’s the active voter list. As a result, they also maintained that Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin has never produced an accurate count of active voters as mandated by law. Essentially, Batiste and Carter claim that the recall’s required signature target should drop by 6,534 names, backing up this claim with a commissioned analysis by the private research of firm Gulf Coast Resources.

This potential numerical boon for the recall drew criticism from one voter-rights organization which has regularly monitored the sec. state’s regular voter roll purges. Ashley Shelton, CEO of the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, said voter roll clean-ups must follow a predictable process. Render-ing individuals onto the inactive list might “debas[e] the voting power of New Orleans,” she argued.

At a press conference last week, recall campaign attorneys Laura Cannizzaro Rodrigue and Blake Arcuri rejected the notion. “That really doesn’t make it harder for people to vote, according to the statute,” Rodrigue explained. “For the most part, you can just go into the polling place, your precinct, and give them your name, your address,” casting a provisional ballot.

Civil District Court Judge Jennifer Medley will hear the case on Feb. 27, and Rodrigue admitted that the lawsuit could potentially result in a delay to the signature verification process.

This article originally published in the February 20, 2023 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.