Were inactive voters included when Terrebonne Parish calculated petition signatures as 15% of registered voters?

Plain-English summary

Terrebonne Parish's home rule charter required petition signatures equal to 15% of the parish's registered voters for an initiative to reach the ballot. The registrar had left inactive-list voters out of the registered-voter count when calculating the required signatures. In 2000, the attorney general's office concluded that this was the correct reading.

The opinion read the charter together with R.S. 18:196(A)(1), which said inactive-list registrants were not counted in computing signatures required on a petition. It applied the Civil Code's rule that laws on the same subject should be interpreted in reference to each other.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2000. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Petition organizers at the time

The opinion treated the 15% threshold as calculated without voters on the inactive list. It did not change the charter's percentage.

Registrars of voters at the time

The office agreed with the registrar's exclusion of inactive registrants from the count used to determine the number of required signatures.

Common questions

Q: Did Terrebonne Parish need signatures equal to 15% of active and inactive voters combined?
A: The opinion said no. It read the charter's registered-voter language with the Election Code's instruction not to count inactive-list voters in the petition-signature calculation.

Q: Did the AG strike down the parish charter's 15% requirement?
A: No. It kept the percentage and explained which voters counted toward the base number.

Q: Why did state election law affect the parish charter calculation?
A: The opinion applied Louisiana Civil Code Article 13, which required laws on the same subject to be interpreted in reference to each other where possible.

Background and statutory framework

Section 7.01(2) of the Terrebonne Parish home rule charter set the 15% initiative threshold. R.S. 18:196(A)(1) directed that inactive voters not be counted when computing signatures required on any petition. The office found those provisions compatible when read together, using La. Civil Code Article 13.

Citations and references

• R.S. 18:196(A)(1) (inactive voters in petition threshold)
• La. Civil Code Article 13 (related laws read together)
• Terrebonne Parish Home Rule Charter § 7.01(2) (15% threshold)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/00-0353

Original opinion text

September 19, 2000
OPINION NUMBER 00-353

Honorable Hunt Downer
Louisiana House of Representatives Terrebonne Parish charter provision and the Election
District No. 52
Code must be interpreted in reference to each other
Post Office Box 7015
so that the 15% requirement of all registered voters
would not include those voters on the inactive list.
Houma, Louisiana 70361-7015

Honorable Reggie P. Dupre, Jr.
Louisiana House of Representatives
District No. 53
Post Office Box 3893
Houma, Louisiana 70361-3893

Clayton E. Lovell, Esq.
101 Wilson Avenue
Post Office Box 3017
Houma, Louisiana 70361

Gentlemen:

We have combined your request for an expedited Attorney General’s opinion on the following issue:

Whether the petition process under Act No. 2 of the First Extraordinary Session of 2000, which requires the signatures of 15% of the total registered voters of the parish, includes those on the inactive list of voters?

One request letter states that Section 7.01(2) of the Home Rule Charter for a Consolidated Government for Terrebonne Parish provides that the number of signatures to be obtained in order to place an initiative on the ballot is 15% of the total registered voters of the Parish. It is also noted that R.S. 18:196(A)(1) provides that the names of registrants on the inactive list of voters shall not be counted in computing the number of signatures required on any petition.

It is our understanding that the registrar of voters followed the provisions of R.S. 18:196(A)(1) and did not include the names of registrants on the inactive list of voters in computing the number of signatures required on the petition herein. In other words, 15% of the total registered voters did not include those voters on the inactive list.

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Opinion No. 00-353
Page -2-

The issue herein is whether the charter should be followed to the exclusion of any other law, specifically the Election Code, and thus require 15% of all registered voters, active and inactive voters. La. Civil Code Article 13 provides, “Laws on the same subject matter must be interpreted in reference to each other.” Certainly, the charter provision and the Election Code are laws on the same subject matter, and thus, it is mandatory that they be interpreted in reference to each other, if possible.

It is our opinion that the charter and the Election Code can be read together so that the 15% requirement of all registered voters would not include those voters on the inactive list. We hope this opinion sufficiently addresses all issues herein. If we can be of further assistance, please advise.

Yours very truly,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

ANGIE ROGERS LAPLACE
Assistant Attorney General

RPI/ARL;mjb

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Opinion No. 00-353
Page -3-

SYLLABUS

Terrebonne Parish charter provision and the Election Code must be interpreted in reference to each other so that the 15% requirement of all registered voters would not include those voters on the inactive list.

Honorable Hunt Downer
Louisiana House of Representatives
District No. 52
Post Office Box 7015
Houma, Louisiana 70361-7015

Honorable Reggie P. Dupre, Jr.
Louisiana House of Representatives
District No. 53
Post Office Box 3893
Houma, Louisiana 70361-3893

Clayton E. Lovell, Esq.
101 Wilson Avenue
Post Office Box 3017
Houma, Louisiana 70361

Date Received:
Date Released: September 19, 2000

ANGIE ROGERS LAPLACE
Assistant Attorney General