Dr. Sandra Wilson, the Registrar of Voters for Orleans Parish, has until Wednesday to deliver the results of the recall signature drive, which will determine if a special election to remove Mayor LaToya Cantrell will take place.
But the verification of the signature count is far from the end of the long campaign trying to remove the New Orleans Mayor. In fact, it is just the beginning of a tumultuous period to see if that recall election will take place.
"I don't think anyone can accurately predict with certainty what's going to happen,'' says Political Analyst and Commentator Clancy DuBos. "Because this thing is a complex series of pulleys and chains and cogs and everything else. I'm talking politically, legally, and procedurally. And we're in uncharted waters."
DuBos says things will be far from over come Wednesday. He says litigation focused on every aspect of the recall is likely because what has happened has never taken place before, even in other recalls.
"There are so many questions that are going to remain unanswered, even after we get more information this coming week," DuBos explains. "For example, what is the actual threshold? That's being litigated. It's the settlement going to stand up? Is the judge going to be recused? How many signatures are going to be validated?"
DuBos lays out his prediction for the worst case scenario.
"If the number of validated signatures winds up between 45-and-50 thousand, which is roughly the thresholds, that would be the worst possible outcome because it would probably trigger the maximum amount of litigation in disputes and uncertainty.
So for now, eyes are on Dr. Wilson's office and how they are adding up and verifying the signatures—which nobody outside the office knows how it's being done.
"There's been no transparency as two what methodology Dr. Wilson's staff used," DuBos says. "Now hopefully when she releases a number, she will also outline, with a great deal of transparency and specificity exactly what the process was that they used."
For both sides in the recall fight, this could be the longest two days of waiting.
We are also waiting for the Louisiana Supreme Court to rule if Judge Jennifer Medley should have recused herself from presiding over the recall organizers' lawsuit challenging the number of active voters. She signed the petition to recall Cantrell.
Cantrell has filed lawsuits of her own taking issue with the settlement over the number of required signatures and other issues.
