Could an Orleans Parish registrar join or be required to run a voter registration drive sponsored by political groups?

Plain-English summary

Orleans Parish's registrar asked whether his office could staff registration drives jointly sponsored by community and political organizations, whether he had to accept applications sent by designated registration agencies, and whether an outside organizer could require him to run a drive. In Opinion 03-0037, the Louisiana Attorney General said the registrar could participate through a mobile registration unit when he deemed the drive necessary to provide registration service, so long as he did not engage in prohibited political activity. He had no legal obligation to join a particular drive.

The AG also said the registrar had to accept application forms from properly designated voter registration agencies and register qualified applicants. A civic or religious leader, elected official, or concerned citizen could not compel a drive at a requested time. The opinion distinguished the registrar's discretion over staffing a drive from his duty to process qualifying applications sent by designated agencies.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2003. 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.

What the opinion meant at issuance

Registrars of voters

The AG read R.S. 18:133 as allowing the registrar to activate a parish-provided mobile unit where he deemed it necessary for maximum registration service. He paired that discretion with the ban in R.S. 18:62 on political activity. The opinion said the registrar was not required to attend a drive organized by others.

Community and political organizations

Joint sponsorship by a political organization did not automatically bar the registrar's participation, but the registrar had to avoid prohibited support for a candidate or party. An organizer could not mandate that the registrar hold a drive during absentee voting, at night, or when the office lacked staff.

Designated voter registration agencies

The opinion said the registrar had to accept forms from agencies designated under R.S. 18:116 and register an applicant when the submitted information established eligibility. It separately described a requirement for the elections office to make mail-registration forms available for organized drives.

Common questions

Q: Could a registrar participate in a drive co-sponsored by a political group? A: The AG said yes if the registrar deemed participation necessary and it did not become prohibited political activity. He said the registrar had no duty to participate.

Q: Could an organizer force the registrar to hold a night or election-week drive? A: No. The AG said no one could mandate a drive, including at the inconvenient times described in the request.

Q: Could the registrar refuse forms from a designated registration agency? A: The opinion said the registrar had to accept applications from designated agencies and register applicants whose information established the registration requirements.

Q: Could the registrar register voters house to house with a mobile unit? A: The mobile-unit statute quoted in the opinion expressly said it did not authorize house-to-house registration.

Background and statutory framework

The request referred to the National Voter Registration Act and Louisiana's mail application form. The opinion quoted R.S. 18:62's political-activity prohibition, R.S. 18:133 on mobile registration units, and R.S. 18:116(E)(1) on applications from designated agencies. It cited 42 USC 1973gg-4 for distribution of mail registration forms. The first-page date is printed as February 18, 2003.

Citations and references

Authorities in the opinion: R.S. 18:62; R.S. 18:133; R.S. 18:116(E)(1); 42 USC 1973gg-4; Louisiana Constitution Article X, Section 9(C), quoted as the definition of political activity.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/03-0037

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P O Box
CIVIL DIVISION
TEL t225~ 342-"01
BATON ROUGE
FAX: (225,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
7O804-9005
ATTORNEY GENERAL
February 18, 2003
OPINION NUMBER 03-0037

31 ELECTIONS - Registratton of Voters Mr. Louis Keller, Sr., C.E.R.A. 92-A-1 REGISTRATION OF VOTERS
Registrar of Voters
The registrar of voters is authorized to conduct a voter registration
dnve by use of a mobile reglstratton unit when the registrar deems
Parish of Orleans
the drive is necessary in order to afford maximum registration service
1W23 City Hall
to the residents of the parish and would not be ~n v~olation of the
political activity prohibitions of the Election Code and Louisiana
1300 Perdido St.
Constitution
New Orleans, LA 70112-2127

Dear Mr. Keller:

Your request for an Attorney General’s opinion has been assigned to me for research and reply. You have asked our office to advise you regarding the registration of voters in compliance with the National Voter Registration Act ["NVRA"] and the Louisiana mail voter registration application form, as follows:

1. Is it permissible for a Registrar of voters to actively participate in voter registration drives that are jointly sponsored by community and political organizations? Employees of the Registrar’s office would be required to register voters on site during the length of the drive.
2. In Orleans Parish, local colleges, universities, public high schools and numerous state agencies are mandated by the NVRA to take voter registrations and forward the completed ones to the registrar’s office to be processed. The registrar’s office can not interfere with their operation, correct?
3. Can the leader of a civic or religious organization or an elected official or a concerned citizen mandate the registrar to conduct a voter registration drive regardless of the circumstances? For example, (1) During the week of absentee voting in person followed by the week of the election; (2) night registration; and (3) when the office is limited on personnel and can not accommodate the request.

As you are aware, the Election Code prohibits the registrar of voters from participating or engaging in political activity:

No registrar of voters, deputy registrar, or other employee of a registrar ... shall participate or engage in: political activity, including his own or any other candidacy for election to public office; membership on any national, state, or local committee of a political party

Mr. Louis Keller, Sr., C.E.R.A.
Opinion Number 03-0037
Page -2-

or faction; making or soliciting contributions for any political party, faction, or candidate; taking active part in the management of the affairs of a political party, faction, candidate, or any political campaign, except to exercise his right as a citizen to express his opinion privately and to cast his vote as he desires. As used in this Section, the term ’political activity’ shall have the meaning ascribed to it in Article X, Section 9(C) of the Constitution of Louisiana.

R.S. 18:62.

The constitution describes "political activity" as "[a]n effort to support or oppose the election of a candidate for political office or to support a particular political party in an election." LSA-Const. Art. X, § 9(C)(1974).

The Election Code provides several ways in which a person can register to vote: in person, by mail, or through a voter registration agency. A registrar can only register a person in his office or in a mobile registration unit, as provided for in R.S. 18:131 - 133. Specifically, R.S. 18:133 provides for the registration of voters at a mobile registration unit as follows:

In each parish, the parish governing authority may provide for one or more mobile registration units for the registration of voters within the parish, which shall be at the expense of the parish governing authority. The registration books shall not be carried in any such mobile unit. In each of these parishes the re.qistrar shall activate the mobile reqistration units wherever he deems it necessary in order to afford maximum reqistration service to the residents of the parish. The locations of these units shall be determined by the reqistrar. Each mobile unit shall be equipped with a fire extinguisher.
The provisions of this Subsection shall not be construed to allow house-to-house registration of voters.

Reading laws on the same subject matter in reference to each other, as required by Civil Code article 13, it is our opinion that a registrar is authorized to conduct voter registration drives by way of a mobile registration unit, as the registrar deems it necessary and not in violation of the political activity prohibitions of the Election Code and Louisiana Constitution. Therefore, in response to your first question, it is our opinion that it is only permissible for a registrar to actively participate in a voter registration drive sponsored by community and political organizations if the registrar deems his participation necessary and not in

Mr. Louis Keller, Sr., C.E.R.A.
Opinion Number 03-0037
Page -3-

violation of the political activity prohibitions of the Election Code and Louisiana Constitution, but that the registrar has no such obligation under the law to participate.

With regard to your second question, assuming these agencies listed are designated voter registration agencies in accordance with R.S. 18:116, the register is required to accept voter registration application forms from all designated voter registration agencies and register the applicant if the information establishes that the applicant meets the requirements for registration. R.S. 18:116(E)(1). In response to your third question, it is our opinion that the registrar can not be mandated to conduct a voter registration drive by anyone, as the law does not require same. The only requirement with regard to organized voter registration drives is that mail voter registration forms as required by the NVRA are to be made available by the Commissioner of Elections office for distribution through governmental and private entities, with particular emphasis on making them available for organized voter registration programs. 42 USC 1973gg-4.

Trusting that this opinion answers and addresses all of your questions and concerns, we remain

Yours very truly,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

ANGLE ROGERS LAPLACE
Assistant Attorney General

RPI/ARL;mjb

Cc: Department of Elections & Registration