§1300.2. Petition for recall election; campaign finance disclosure
A.(1) Whenever the recall of any public officer is sought, a petition shall be directed
to the governor. The petition shall be limited to the request that an election be called and
held in the voting area for the purpose of recalling the officer. No recall petition shall seek
an election for the recall of more than one public officer, individually, in the same recall
petition.
(2) The secretary of state shall provide a form approved by the attorney general to
be used for the petition for a recall election. Such form shall include pre-printed line
numbers and shall be in conformity with all other provisions of this Chapter and R.S. 18:3.
All recall petitions shall be on an approved form or on a form which contains the same
information as required by the approved form, and any petition not on such a form shall be
invalid.
B.(1) All signatures on recall petitions shall be handwritten.
(2) The petition shall be signed by a percentage of the total number of electors of the
voting area wherein and for which a recall election is petitioned as provided in Paragraph (3)
of this Subsection.
(3)(a) If fewer than one thousand qualified electors reside within the voting area, the
petition shall be signed by at least forty percent of the electors.
(b) If one thousand or more but fewer than twenty-five thousand qualified electors
reside within the voting area, the petition shall be signed by at least thirty-three and one-third
percent of the electors.
(c) If twenty-five thousand or more but fewer than one hundred thousand qualified
electors reside within the voting area, the petition shall be signed by at least twenty-five
percent of the electors.
(d) If one hundred thousand or more qualified electors reside within the voting area,
the petition shall be signed by at least twenty percent of the electors.
C.(1) Prior to the entering of any signatures on a petition, the chairman designated
to represent the petitioners shall file with the secretary of state a copy of the recall petition
which will be used and copies of a picture identification that contain the name and signature
of the chairman and vice chairman, respectively, or copies of current utility bills, bank
statements, government checks, paychecks, or other government documents that show the
name and address of the chairman and vice chairman, respectively. Upon receipt of the recall
petition, the secretary of state shall provide to the chairman and vice chairman, respectively,
a document prepared by the secretary of state in conjunction with the Louisiana Registrars
of Voters Association, subject to approval as to content by the attorney general, providing
general information on petition requirements and deadlines. Upon receipt of the recall
petition, the secretary of state shall endorse thereon the fact and the date of filing, and this
unsigned copy of the recall petition shall be a public record. A copy shall be transmitted by
the secretary of state to the registrar of voters for each parish in which the recall election is
to be held. The chairman shall list on the petition every parish that is wholly or partially
within the voting area where the recall election is to be held. The petition shall be considered
filed when it is received in the office of the secretary of state. Upon receipt of the recall
petition, the secretary of state shall produce a report of the number of qualified electors in
the voting area wherein the recall election is sought effective on the date of receipt of the
recall petition and shall notify the registrar of voters in each parish in the voting area of the
number of qualified electors of the voting area in the parish for issuance of the certification.
(2)(a) The signed and dated petition shall be submitted to the registrar of voters for
each parish within the voting area not later than one hundred eighty days after the day on
which the copy of the petition was filed with the secretary of state; however, where fewer
than one thousand qualified electors reside within the voting area, the petition shall be
submitted to the registrar of voters not later than ninety days after the day on which the copy
of the petition is filed with the secretary of state. If the final day for submitting the signed
and dated petition falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the deadline for filing such
petition shall be on the next day which is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. Upon
receipt of the signed and dated petition, the registrar of voters shall affix the date received
and a page number to the front of each page of the petition.
(b) With the recall petition, the chairman shall also submit to the registrar of voters
an affidavit verifying the number of signatures submitted along with an attestation that to the
best of his knowledge all documents submitted are originals and not photocopies.
(3)(a) The chairman shall file notice with the registrar on the third day before the
petition is submitted to the registrar that he will submit the petition and the date of such
submission, unless such submission is made within three days prior to the expiration of the
period for submitting such petition. Such notice of submission shall be a public record. If
the notice filed with the registrar on the third day before the petition is submitted includes
a date for submitting the signed and dated petition which falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or
other legal holiday, the registrar shall so inform the chairman and advise the chairman of the
next day which is not a Saturday, Sunday, or other legal holiday and on which the petition
is to be submitted.
(b) The chairman shall provide written notice by certified mail, return receipt
requested, to the public officer whose recall is sought on the third day before the petition is
submitted to the registrar.
D. Each elector, at the time of signing the petition, shall enter his address and the
date on which the elector signed beside or underneath his signature; however, if a person is
unable to write, as provided in R.S. 18:1300.4, the two witnesses shall date their signatures.
In addition, each petition shall be in compliance with the provisions of R.S. 18:3. In
determining the number of qualified electors who signed the petition in any parish, the
registrar of voters shall not count any signature which does not comply with all of the
requirements of R.S. 18:3 or bears a date prior to the date on which the copy of the petition
initially was filed with the secretary of state or after the date of the submission of the petition
to the registrar except as otherwise provided in R.S. 18:1300.3(B). The registrar shall not
receive or certify a petition submitted to him for certification unless it is submitted to him
timely.
E. The secretary of state shall notify the Supervisory Committee on Campaign
Finance Disclosure of the filing of a copy of a recall petition to be used to seek the recall of
a public officer, including the date of such filing, the officer who is the subject of the
petition, and the names and addresses of the chairman and vice chairman designated on the
petition. The Campaign Finance Disclosure Act shall be applicable to persons supporting
or opposing the recall of a public officer as provided in R.S. 18:1486.
Acts 1968, No. 590, §1; Acts 1977, No. 473, §1; Acts 1979, No. 148, §1; Acts 1984,
No. 672, §1; Acts 1985, No. 754, §1; Acts 1986, No. 669, §1; Acts 1988, No. 909, §1, eff.
Jan. 1, 1989; Acts 1990, No. 107, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991; Acts 1995, No. 555, §1, eff. Jan. 1,
1996; Acts 1995, No. 1046, §1, eff. June 29, 1995; Acts 2001, No. 1032, §7; Acts 2002, 1st
Ex. Sess., No. 130, §1, eff. April 23, 2002; Acts 2003, No. 1220, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2004; Acts
2010, No. 621, §1; Acts 2018, No. 257, §1, eff. May 15, 2018; Acts 2018, No. 535, §1, eff.
May 23, 2018; Acts 2022, No. 274, §1, eff. June 3, 2022; Acts 2024, No. 550, §1, eff. Jan.
1, 2025.