Louisiana election integrity focuses on absentee ballot issues

(The Center Square) — The November 2023 general election for the office of Sheriff of Caddo Parish, Louisiana was remarkable, and not just because there were 43,241 votes cast and the election was determined by a single vote.

In the aftermath of the legal battle that ensued over the one-vote victory, a court case gave a rare insight into the problems with election integrity including absentee mail-in ballots.

The lawsuit revealed that at least two voters voted twice. An election official also stated his office was never notified during his tenure of people who were not eligible to vote so they could be removed from the voter rolls. There were at least 11 "unlawful" votes as determined by the judge who demanded a new election be held. Henry Whitehorn, who won by one vote in the nullified election, won the second election by defeating John Nickelson.

Also discovered during the trial was that numerous mail-in absentee ballots did not meet the legal standard to be counted but were still accepted.

In Louisiana, a person must have a reason to be eligible to absentee vote, such as being a senior citizen, residing in a nursing home or a college student living outside the parish of residence. And absentee ballots must be signed by the voter in front of a witness.

During the trial, a sample of the 7,781 absentee ballots sent in by mail that were reviewed during a 90-minute break. Several of them in what was described as a "small sample" had lacked the required legal necessities "to constitute a valid and lawful vote."

The judge found five defective ballots that were counted because they lacked the required signatures.

Brian Homza, the attorney who represented Nickelson said that the state of Louisiana has strong election laws. Michael Lunsford, executive director of Citizens for a New Louisiana, agreed with Homza that the state's election laws were among the best in the country.

But Homza said he had a concern that there were too many absentee ballots to be verified by a small number of election voters. Homza said more people are mailing in their votes during pandemic times.

The lawsuit states that local election officials said that only their staff could review absentee ballots to determine if they should be counted.

During all statewide elections held in Louisiana in April 2024, 34,454 of the almost 1.6 million votes cast were absentee ballots, or about 2% of all votes cast.

"The state has one of the best election codes that is out there," Homza said in an interview with The Center Square. "There is no question it is one of the best. But the system was never created for that many absentee ballots."

There are three new laws that took effect Aug. 1 regarding absentee voting.

Act 380 states that no person but immediate family of the voter can deliver more than one marked ballot per election to the registrar of voters.

Act 302 states that no person except the immediate family member of the voter or certain qualified election worker can assist more than one voter in completing their absentee ballot.

Act 317 states that no person except the immediate family member of the voter shall submit more than one completed absentee ballot application to the registrar of voters. And no person or organization can distribute an absentee ballot application to anyone who hasn't requested it.

The Louisiana Secretary of State's office said it takes steps to ensure absentee ballots are not abused.

The office stated all absentee ballots require a signature; absentee ballots are only sent to those who request one and are qualified to receive them; voters who vote absentee must have first voted in-person in a previous election and confirmed their identity.

In July, Disability Rights Louisiana filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the new absentee voter laws that they claimed suppressed the votes of people with disabilities.

"These Acts directly impact people with disabilities who vote absentee, but do not have immediate family members available to help them mail their absentee ballots," Disability Rights Louisiana stated in a media release. "Workers in nursing or group homes are now subject to criminal punishment if they drop more than one absentee ballot in the mailbox on behalf of their patient-residents."

Disability Rights Louisiana also protested the law that limits who and how many absentee ballots can be witnessed.

"Criminalizing the witnessing of more than one absentee ballot also violates the Voting Rights Act's mandate that disabled voters are entitled to voting assistance by 'a person of the voter's choice,'" Disability Rights Louisiana stated in a media release.

Election integrity has been a concern of voters in the past.

A July 2024 telephone survey by Rasmussen Reports and the Heartland Institute found that 62% of Likely Voters were concerned that cheating would have an impact on the 2024 elections.

Rasmussen Reports and the Heartland Institute released a report in December 2023 where 20% of voters admitted to committing voter fraud, including with mail-in balloting.