Why did the petition to recall Robeline's police chief fail despite using a valid form?

Plain-English summary

The governor's office asked whether a petition to recall Robeline police chief Michael Marbut met Louisiana's requirements. The 2013 opinion found the petition's form compliant but its signatures insufficient. The registrar submitted a certification listing 57 signatures, yet the opinion reported "zero (0) genuine signatures of qualified electors." The AG concluded that the governor could not issue a proclamation ordering the recall election on that petition.

The opinion discussed the registrar's duty to compare signatures reasonably with the voter roll and to check dates, addresses, and elector qualifications. It said the registrar was not required to be a handwriting expert.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2013. 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.

Historical summary

Recall petition supporters and voters

The failure was in the signatures, not the petition's columns. The AG said none could be accepted as genuine under the requirements it discussed, despite the form carrying the required fields.

Registrar and governor's office

The opinion said the registrar should make a reasonable comparison with the roll and certify qualified electors. The AG found the submitted petition lacked enough valid signatures for the governor's election proclamation.

Common questions

Did the AG reject the petition because its form was missing fields?

No. The opinion said the form complied with La. R.S. 18:3 and carried columns for signature details, registration, residence, and witness information.

How many signatures did the registrar certify as genuine?

The opinion reported zero genuine signatures of qualified electors, even though the certification contained 57 signatures.

Did the registrar need expert handwriting analysis?

No. The opinion quoted an earlier AG opinion saying registrars need not be signature experts but must make a reasonable identification before certifying a recall signature.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion applied La. R.S. 18:1300.2's signature threshold for a voting area with fewer than one thousand electors. It quoted La. R.S. 18:3(A) on petition information and discussed La. R.S. 18:1300.3(A) on registrar certification. The AG relied on the registrar's review of the submitted Robeline petition.

Citations

• La. R.S. 18:1300.2(B): recall signature threshold quoted in the opinion.
• La. R.S. 18:3(A): petition information requirements.
• La. R.S. 18:1300.3(A): registrar certification duties.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/13-0029

Original opinion text

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

~tat~ of IJlouisiana
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P.O. BOX 94005
BATON ROUGE
70804-9005
JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWELL
ATTORNEY GENERAL

February 27,2013
OPINION 13·0029

24-A ELECTIONS - Recall
Mr. Thomas L. Enright, Jr.
Executive Cou nsel
La.-RS. 18:3
La.-RS. 18:101
Office of the Governor
La.-RS. 18:1300.1, et seq.
P. O. Box 94004
The Petition to Recall Michael Marbut, Chief of Police, Village of
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9004
Robeline, Parish of Natchitoches, does not meet the legal
requirements for the governor to issue a proclamation ordering an election to be held for the purposes of voting on the question of the
Dear Mr. Enright: recall.

You have requested that this office advise you as to whether the recall petition with supporting documents, directed toward "Petition to Recall Michael Marbut, Chief of Police, Village of Robeline, Parish of Natchitoches," meets the statutory requirements for a recall petition, as set forth in La. R.S. 18:1300.1, et seq.

First, La. R.S. 18:1300.2(B) states:

All signatures on recall petitions shall be handwritten. This petition shall be signed by a number of the electors of the voting area as will (sic) in number equal not less than thirty-three and one-third percent of the number of the total electors of the voting area wherein and for which a recall election is petitioned; however, where fewer than one thousand qualified electors reside within the voting area, the petition shall be signed by not less than forty percent of said electors.

Pursuant to La. R.S. 18:1300.2(B), the recall petition must be signed by not less than forty (40) percent of the total electors in the Village of Robeline to be valid.
According to the "Petition to Recall Michael Marbut, Chief of Police, Village of Robeline, Parish of Natchitoches," Registrar Deborah S. Waskom represents that there are one-hundred thirty-one (131) electors in the voting area as of the filing of the petition with the Secretary of State on November 23, 2012.

Forty (40) percent of one-hundred thirty-one (131) would require at least fifty-two (52) valid signatures on the petition to satisfy the statutory requirements for a recall election.

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Opinion 13-0029
Mr. Thomas L. Enright, Jr.
Page: -2­

Registrar Waskom submits her certification containing fifty-seven (57) signatures on the petition; however, there were zero (0) genuine signatures of qualified electors contained in the petition.

The statutory requirements for a petition to recall an elected official are primarily listed in La. R.S. 18:1300.2. This statute provides in pertinent part:

Each elector, at the time of signing the petition, shall enter his address and the date on which he signed beside or underneath his signature; however, if a person is unable to write, as provided in La.
R.S. 18:1300.4, the two witnesses shall date their signatures. In addition, each petition shall be in compliance with the provisions of La. R.S. 18:3. In determining the number of qualified electors who signed the petition in any parish, the registrar of voters shall not count any signature which is undated or bears a date prior to the date on which the copy of the petition initially was filed with the secretary of state or after the date of the submission of the petition to the registrar except as otherwise provided in La. R.S.
18:1300.3(8). The registrar shall not receive or certify a petition submitted to him for certification unless it is submitted to him timely.

La. R.S. 18:1300.2(D).

In a similar vein, La. R.S. 18:3(A), which governs petitions submitted to the registrar of voters, states:

Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, every petition submitted to a registrar of voters for certification shall contain the following information:
(1 ) The handwritten signatu re of the voter who is signing the petition;....
(2) The date the voter signed the petition.
(3) The signer's ward/district/precinct and date of birth.
(4) The address at which the signer is registered to vote, including municipal number, apartment number, rural route, and box number.
(5) Name of the signer either typed or legibly written.
(6) Name of the person who witnessed and who obtained the signature.
(7) Date on which the person witnessed and obtained the signature.

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Opinion 13-0029
Mr. Thomas L. Enright, Jr.
Page: -3­

Louisiana courts have determined that the recall is a harsh remedy; therefore, the provisions which govern the recall process must be strictly construed. 1

La. R.S. 18:101 (8) sets forth the requirements used in determining a "quali'f!ed elector" in the area, providing:

For purposes of the laws governing voter registration and voting, "resident" means a citizen who resides in this state and in the parish, municipality, if any, and precinct in which he offers to register and vote, with an intention to reside there indefinitely. If a citizen resides at more than one place in the state with an intention to reside there indefinitely, he may register and vote only at one of the places at which he resides. If a person claims a homestead exemption, pursuant to Article VII, Section 20 of the Constitution of Louisiana, on one of the residences, he shall register and vote in the precinct in which that residence is located.... For purposes of voter registration and voting, the residence of a married woman shall be determined in the same manner as is required for any other citizen. A citizen of this state shall not be or remain registered or vote in more than one place of residence at anyone time.

Registrar Waskom is thereby required to utilize La. R.S. 18:3(A), La. R.S. 18:101(8), and La. R.S. 18:1300.2(D), in determining the number of qualified electors in the voting area.

As this office has opined previously, in La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 04-0265, the registrar is "required to review the signature, date and address of the signatory before certifying said signature and cannot include any person whose name does not appear on the voter roll, whose address is not affixed to the petition, and/or whose signature is undated or bears an incorrect date. La. R.S. 18:3, La. R.S. 18:1300.2 and La. R.S. 18:1300.3."

According to La. R.S. 18:1300.3(A), the registrar is required to ascertain if the petitioners are registered to vote in the district or municipality. The registrar is required to certify on the recall petition "[t]he number of qualified electors of the voting area within the parish whose handwritten signatures appear on the petition" and "[e]ach registrar also shall indicate on the petition the names appearing thereon who are not electors of the voting area." The registrar is required to verify the genuineness of signatures on recall petitions, as has been done for many years by registrars throughout the state, by virtue of the legal

La. R.S. 18:1300.1, et seq., Young v. Sanders, 38,412 (La. App. 2 Cir. 4/7/04), 870 SO.2d 1126; Bradford v. Board of Supervisors ofElections, 128 SO.2d 468 (La. App. 3 Cir. 1961).

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Opinion 13-0029
Mr. Thomas L. Enright, Jr.
Page: -4­

advice from this office. See La. Atty. Gen Op. No. 04-0265.

The registrar should continue to make a reasonable comparison of a voter's signature on the petition to the voter's signature on the roll of electors and not count a signature which is not found to be a reasonable match. See La. Atty. Gen. Op. Nos. 04-0265 and 91-413.

As stated in La. Atty. Gen. Op. No. 91-413, "the registrar should not be required to be an expert in observing signatures, however, it is the opinion of this office that the registrar shall make a reasonable identification of a voter's signature prior to certifying such name on a recall petition."

In this case, the petition has been fully reviewed and the form of the petition is found to be in compliance with the requirements set forth in La. R.S. 18:3. The "Petition to Recall Michael Marbut, Chief of Police, Village of Robeline, Parish of Natchitoches," contains requisite columns for the date of birth, date of signature, precinct of registration, residence address, including the town, name of the voter typed or legibly written, name of the person who witnessed and obtained signature, and the date the signature was witnessed and obtained.

Although the form of the petition is in compliance with the law, none of the signatures complied with the requirements set forth in La. R.S. 18:3(A) and La. R.S. 18:1300.2, and could not be accepted by the registrar as genuine. Therefore, this office 'finds that, the "Petition to Recall Michael Marbut, Chief of Police, Village of Robeline, Parish of Natchitoches," as verified by Registrar Waskom, under the laws and standards explained above, does NOT have a sufficient number of valid signatures from qualified electors in the voting area. Therefore, the petition does NOT meet the statutory requirements necessary for the governor to issue a proclamation ordering a recall election in this matter.

Yours very truly,

JAMES D. "BUDDY" CALDWELL
ATTORNEY GENERAL

By:

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