[StBernard] Displaced residents' votes questioned

[Westley Annis]

Westley,

You have it right.  But, the poll watcher, if he/she has a print out from
the other parish's Assessor's office showing a homestead exemption being
claimed, then the poll commissioner should acknowledge that proof as having
precedence over the voter showing an insurance bill, etc.  After all, if I
owned a dozen homes, I could show an insurance bill for each one of them
with the respective address of each.

As for..."As was reported in the newspaper article, the courts tend to err
on the side of the voter" - that should not be the case with the current
Louisiana law as it reads.  There really is no decision for the courts to
make on this law, but to enforce it.

John 

-----Original Message-----
SJK,


>From what I know about the process, for those that vote on election day 

>and

not early voting.

If a candidate wants to challenge someone's right to vote they have to have
a poll watcher at the polling location and raise a challenge with the onsite
polling commissioner when that person goes to sign in to vote.

I may have some of the details off a bit, but the general flow would then be
that the poll watcher has to produce documentation that says the voter lives
out of the precinct.  The voter then has the opportunity to present to the
poll commissioner proof that they still live in the precinct.  This can take
the form of a bill, bank statement, etc.

If the matter cannot be solved completely in one direction or the other, the
voter will be allowed to cast a provisional vote.  I'm going back twenty
years here, but the provisional vote is done on paper, recording the votes
and the person casting the vote.

If the number of provisional votes would not change the outcome of the
election then they are not looked at.  If they would change the outcome then
the legality of each vote will have to be decided by election officials (I'm
guessing it would be the Clerk of Court, the Registrar of Voters, and
possibly the Secretary of State) before the vote is recorded (think shades
of the 2000 Florida mess, minus the hanging chads).

As was reported in the newspaper article, the courts tend to err on the side
of the voter.

Westley