§1300.3. Certification of registrar of voters; addition or withdrawal of signatures; designation as a public record; form of names

            A.(1)(a) The registrar of voters of each parish in the voting area wherein a recall election is sought shall certify on the recall petition the number of names appearing thereon, the number of qualified electors of the voting area within the parish whose handwritten signatures appear on the petition, and also the total number of electors of the voting area within the parish as of the date of the filing of the petition with the secretary of state. Each registrar shall indicate on the petition the names appearing thereon who are not electors of the voting area. Each person who participates in the review of the names on the petition for certification by the registrar as required in this Section shall initial each of those portions of the petition which the person reviews for certification by the registrar.

            (b) The registrar of voters for each parish in the voting area may request and accept the assistance of employees of the Department of State and registrars and deputy registrars of voters from other parishes to complete the certification of the recall petition. Each person offering such assistance shall be considered a deputy registrar of the requesting parish registrar for that purpose only.

            (2)(a) The registrar of voters shall complete the certification of the recall petition within twenty working days after it is presented to him for that purpose. However, if any parish wholly or partially within the voting area has more than fifty thousand registered voters, the registrar of voters for each parish within the voting area shall complete such certification within thirty working days after it is presented to him for that purpose.

            (b) If the petition certification deadline occurs during the time period commencing forty-five days before a primary election and ending on the date of the corresponding general election, the registrar of voters for each parish in the voting area is hereby granted an additional ten working days to complete the certification or an additional twenty working days for any parish wholly or partially within the voting area that has more than fifty thousand registered voters. If the final day for the registrar to certify the recall petition falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, then the next day which is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday shall be deemed to be the final day for certifying the recall petition.

            B.(1) The registrar of voters shall honor the written request of any voter who either desires to have his handwritten signature stricken from the petition or desires to have his handwritten signature added to the petition at any time after receipt of the signed petition as provided in R.S. 18:1300.2(C) but prior to certification of the petition or within five days after receipt of such signed petition, whichever is earlier. If the deadline for removing or adding a signature to the petition falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, then the next day which is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday shall be deemed to be the deadline for removing or adding a signature to the petition. The written request of the voter shall include the name and address of the voter, the signature of the voter, the date of birth of the voter, and the date.

            (2) The voter or any other person designated by the voter shall transmit the written request to the registrar of voters for each parish within the voting area by mail or directly by hand, immediately upon signature of the voter or upon receipt of the signed, written request.

            (3) The written request of a voter to have his signature stricken from or added to the recall petition shall be a public record at the time that the recall petition becomes public record.

            C.(1) When there is no registrar of voters, or deputy registrar of voters in any parish, or in case of the absence or inability of that officer, the clerk of the district court of the parish shall execute the certificate.

            (2) Immediately after the recall petition is certified, a copy of the petition shall be made and the original recall petition shall be sent to the governor by the officer executing the certificate. Such copy shall be retained in the office of the registrar of voters in each parish affected by the petition and shall be a public record.

            (3) On the date the recall petition is sent to the governor, the registrar of voters or person who executes the certificate as provided in Paragraph (1) of this Subsection shall provide written notice of the certification to the public officer whose recall is sought. The written notice required by this Paragraph shall be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the registration address of the public officer.

            D. When any officer designated in this Chapter refuses to execute the certificates provided for, any signer of a recall petition, or the chairman or vice chairman designated to represent the signers, may compel the execution of the certificates by summary process in the district court having jurisdiction over the officer.

            E. The registrar of voters shall comply with the provisions of R.S. 18:3 when determining the number of qualified electors of the voting area who signed the petition.

            Acts 1952, No. 127, §16; Acts 1975, No. 338, §1; Acts 1977, No. 473, §1; Acts 1980, No. 247, §1; Acts 1982, No. 166, §1, eff. July 14, 1982. Acts 1984, No. 672, §1; Acts 1985, No. 754, §1; Acts 1989, No. 179, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1990; Acts 1992, No. 949, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1993; Acts 1995, No. 555, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1996; Acts 2001, No. 1032, §7; Acts 2003, No. 1220, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2004; Acts 2010, No. 621, §1; Acts 2014, No. 60, §1, eff. May 16, 2014; Acts 2023, No. 91, §1, eff. June 6, 2023; Acts 2024, No. 550, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2025.

NOTE: See Acts 2001, No. 1032, §17.