For anyone excited about the quick recall of LaToya Cantrell as the mayor of New Orleans, a bit of reality may be required.
Sherri Hadskey serves as Commissioner of Elections at the office of the Louisiana Secretary of State. Hadskey appeared on the Newell Normand show to lay out the steps that have to be taken to get a recall referendum on a ballot.
Hadskey told Normand the organizers of the recall, which was filed last week, must first collect the necessary number of signatures for the petition to be recognized: 53,000.
The petitioners would then have to submit the signatures to the Orleans Parish Registrar of voters office. That office would have 15 days to verify the signatures.
Next, the registrar of voters office would submit the verification information onto the Louisiana Governor’s office, making Gov. John Bel Edwards ultimately responsible for making the recall ballot-eligible.
From there, a special election would take place asking voters to whether they support removing Cantrell from office. A simple majority – 50% plus one vote – is all it would take at that point to end Cantrell’s second term prematurely.
If that were to happen, the New Orleans City Council would pick one of the council’s at-large members to take over as interim mayor – either Helena Moreno or J.P. Morrell. Another special election would then be triggered to elect a new mayor at some point within the next 365 days.
The interim mayor would be eligible to run in that election.
However, as for the first part of the equation – the process leading up to the initial recall vote – Hadskey laid out a potential timeline for that to take place in time for the December 10th election, but it’s tight.
Because of the quick turnaround, Hadskey believes it’s highly unlikely for the recall petition to appear on a ballot this year. Click the link above to hear her explain why.
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