Organizers of the campaign to put a recall of New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell up for a vote are working on a settlement with the Orleans Registrar of Voters and Louisiana Secretary of State to agree on a number of active voters in New Orleans, our partners at NOLA.com report.
Proceedings in the recall campaign's lawsuit to force the registrar and secretary of state to reduce the number of active voters were put on hold pending the discussion.
Recall organizers want the registrar's office and Louisiana Secretary of State compelled to remove dead voters and strike others as inactive, to better their odds of landing enough verified signatures.
One legal analyst says this may be the only way to settle the recall issue without any delays or appeals.
"I think the secretary of state . . . is looking to resolve this and give some structure to the Orleans Parish Registrar (of Voters) as to some parameters to resolve this quickly so they can maintain the timelines for the recall election," Doug Sunseri, host of WWL's All Things Legal said. "One thing they do want to do is get it right, and they don't want to rush through it.
"If they think they can do it within 20 days, I wouldn't foresee an extension. If from a labor perspective you can't, there may be some type of agreement to have a short extension."
The law requires 20 percent of active voters to sign the petition, so reducing the number of active voters by tens of thousands could reduce the number of signatures they need by thousands.
The Orleans Registrar of Voters office has until March 22 to verify the signatures. If the number of verified signatures is at least 20 percent of active voters in New Orleans, it will be up to Governor John Bel Edwards to call a recall election, at which time New Orleans voters will vote yes or no on removing Mayor LaToya Cantrell.
Does Mayor Cantrell and her camp have any way to stop this compromise from happening?
"They can't do anything about this point because they are not part of the litigation . . . unless she intervenes in the lawsuit in the next day or two or contest the settlement, but as of right now, she has not standing to address any of the compromise that may occur," Sunseri said.
