New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell is expected to challenge a settlement between the secretary of state and the leaders of the recall effort against her. WWL-TV reports that Cantrell is consulting with her legal team on her next steps to contest the compromise lowered the number of active voters in Orleans Parish for the purpose of the recall.
So, does Cantrell have a chance at succeeding with any appeal?
"I think she probably has some grounds because there's no precedent or case law on how to deal with a registrar who doesn't do his job and who doesn't update a voter list year-round," said Doug Sunseri, host of WWL's ALL THINGS LEGAL host Doug Sunseri. "There's not a lot of history--not a lot of precedent on it.
"So, yes, I do think there is some foothold to challenge if she does decide to challenge."
Sunseri noted that Cantrell's case could hinge on the number of voters removed from the active voter list for the recall and how they were removed.
"Cantrell's campaign may make a legal challenge on the basis of picking the 25,000 voters as arbitrary and can't be done and that it doesn't afford those voters due process for being removed."
Sunseri says because a recall effort is at the center of the case, the courts would move as quickly as possible to render a decision. That, he says, provides little to no chance of Mayor Cantrell or the recall campaign dragging out the process.
"I think the challenge would be put on the expedited--or the "rocket"--docket," Sunseri said. "If there's any type of judgments or appeals, just like this proceeding, it would be done in a matter of days or weeks as opposed to months or years like normal litigation."
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