Could a Louisiana parish create voting precincts with fewer than 300 registered voters?

Plain-English summary

The Avoyelles Parish Police Jury was considering fewer police jury districts, a change that could require splitting precincts and creating some with fewer than 300 active voters. The attorney general's office said in 1998 that state law generally barred precincts with fewer than 300 registered voters unless a statutory exception applied. The police jury could not create a smaller precinct merely because its redistricting plan called for one.

The opinion described exceptions in the statute, including certain isolated areas, incorporated places, and situations involving voting district boundaries. It also discussed the commissioner's authority in extraordinary and unforeseen circumstances. The office did not decide whether any proposed Avoyelles precinct met an exception; it said that depended on the facts.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1998. 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.

Parish governing authorities at the time

The opinion treated the 300-voter minimum as a statutory constraint on establishing precincts. It said the police jury lacked authority to create a smaller precinct unless an exception applied.

Election administrators at the time

The opinion identified documentation, approval, and an election-expense provision associated with smaller precincts. It placed the separate extraordinary-circumstances determination with the commissioner of elections, rather than the police jury.

Redistricting planners at the time

The proposed reduction in police jury districts did not itself establish eligibility for a smaller precinct. The office declined to determine whether the anticipated precinct changes fit the statute's exceptions.

Common questions

Q: Could a parish split a voting precinct into precincts with fewer than 300 voters?
A: The 1998 opinion said only where the resulting precincts fit a statutory exception. The police jury could not rely on its redistricting plan alone.

Q: What kinds of exceptions did the opinion discuss?
A: It quoted statutory exceptions for certain geographically isolated unincorporated areas, an entire incorporated place, and a precinct that could not be consolidated because of voting district boundaries.

Q: Did the AG decide whether Avoyelles Parish's plan qualified?
A: No. The office said it could not determine from the request whether the proposed precincts met an exception.

Q: Who could permit a smaller precinct in extraordinary and unforeseen circumstances?
A: The opinion said that decision belonged to the commissioner of elections, not the police jury.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion quoted LSA-R.S. 18:532 on parish authority to establish precincts and the general rule against precincts with fewer than 300 registered voters. It discussed the listed exceptions, compliance with LSA-R.S. 18:532.1(C), and the commissioner's separate authority. Its answer was conditional because the request did not establish which proposed precincts, if any, met those requirements.

Citations and references

• LSA-R.S. 18:532 (precinct establishment and size)
• LSA-R.S. 18:532(B)(2) (provision cited in the request)
• LSA-R.S. 18:532.1(C) (compliance requirement discussed by the opinion)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/98-0443

Original opinion text

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

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One American Place
301 Main Street, Suite 600
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
P.O. Box 94005
(2171/ DIVISION
TEL.: (504) 2,42-7013
FAX: (504) 342-2090
BATON ROUGE
RICHARD P. IEYOUB
70804-9005
AI-IORN I~Y GI:N [RAL

November 10, 1998
OPINION NUMBER 98-443

41 - Elections - Reapportionment
LSA-R.S. 18:532 (B) (4) (b) (i)
LSA-R.S. 18:532.1 (C)
Ms. Allison B. Laborde
Secretary Treasurer
The creation of precincts of less than 300 active voters is limited by the
statutory law insofar as it provides that "no precinct shall contain less than
Avoyelles Parish Police Jury
three hundred registered voters within its geographical boundaries" unless it
312 N. Main Street, Courthouse
falls within the exceptions set forth therein. Whether such a situation exists
Marksville, LA 71351
depends upon whether the factual circumstances are consistent with the
terms of the exceptions. Otherwise the police jury has no power to create a precinct of less than 300 active voters.
Dear Ms. Laborde:

This office is in receipt of your request for an opinion of the Attorney General in regard to reducing the number of police jury districts. You indicate the Police Jury is considering splitting existing precincts and reducing the police jury from its present fifteen districts. However, this would entail creating precincts of less than 300 active voters.

Accordingly, you ask whether or not it is valid to create precincts of less than 300 active voters in light of LSA-R.S. 18:532(B)(2).

LSA-R.S. 18:532 provides, in pertinent part, as follows:

A. Subject to the provisions of R.S. 18:532.1 and 1903, the governing authority of each parish shall establish precincts, define the territorial limits for which each precinct is established, prescribe their boundaries, and designate the precincts. The governing authority of each parish shall by ordinance adopt the establishment and boundaries of each precinct in accordance with the timetable as set forth herein and in accordance with R.S. 18:532.1.

B. (1) Each precinct shall be a contiguous, compact area having clearly defined and clearly observable boundaries coinciding with visible features readily distinguishable on the ground, such as designated highways * * * except where the precinct boundary is coterminous with the boundary of a parish or an incorporated place when the boundaries of a single precinct contain the entire geographic area of the incorporated place. * * *

Page 2

Ms. Allison B. Laborde
OPINION NUMBER 98-443
Page ~2~

(2) No precinct shall be wholly contained within the territorial boundaries of another precinct, except that a precinct which contains the entire geographical area of an incorporated place and in which the total number of registered voters at the last general election was less than three hundred may also be contained.

(4) (a) No precinct shall contain less than three hundred registered voters within its geographical boundaries, except:

(i) When necessary to make it more convenient for voters in a geographically isolated and unincorporated area to vote. A voter in a geographically isolated and unincorporated area shall mean a voter whose residence is outside an incorporated place and who would have to travel by roadway more than ten miles or cross a public ferry to a polling place to vote if the precinct were not established.

(ii) When the precinct contains the entire geographical area of an incorporated place.

(iii) When the precinct may not be consolidated with any adjacent precinct due to voting district boundaries, provided that such a precinct has a consolidated polling place with an adjacent precinct and the number of commissioners for the polling place has been reduced in accordance with R.S. 18:425.1 and 1286.1.

(b)(i) No precinct shall be established as authorized in this Paragraph unless it is in compliance with the provisions of R.S. 18:532.1(C) and unless the parish governing authority has submitted documentation to the Department of Elections and Registration that the precinct from the commissioner of elections. However, a precinct may contain less than three hundred registered voters if the parish governing authority is responsible for all election expenses incurred in the precinct as provided in R.S. 18:1400.7.

(ii) In addition to the authority in Item (i) of this Subparagraph, the commissioner of elections may permit the establishment of precincts with less than three hundred registered voters under extraordinary and unforeseen circumstances.

Page 3

Ms. Allison B. Laborde
OPINION NUMBER 98-443
Page ~3~

In answer to your inquiry whether the police jury has "the flexibility to create precincts of less than 300 active voters", we would conclude the creation of precincts of less than 300 active voters is limited by the statutory law insofar as it provides that "no precinct shall contain less than three hundred registered voters within its geographical boundaries" unless it falls within the exceptions set forth therein. Whether such a situation exists depends upon whether the factual circumstances are consistent with the terms of the exceptions. Otherwise the police jury has no power to create a precinct of less than 300 active voters.

Moreover, LSA-R.S. 18:532 (B) (4) (b) (i) provides that no precinct shall be established as authorized in the Paragraph unless in compliance with LSA-R.S. 18:532.1(C) and unless the parish governing authority has submitted documentation to the Department of Elections and Registration that the precinct meets one of the criteria and has received approval for the establishment of the precinct, or when the parish governing authority is responsible for all election expenses incurred in the precinct containing less than three hundred registered voters.

Additionally, LSA-R.S. 18:532 sets forth the commissioner of elections may permit establishment of precincts with less than three hundred registered voters "under extraordinary and unforeseen circumstances" but this determination is reserved to the commissioner of elections and not the police jury.

We cannot say whether any of the anticipated changes which would create precincts with less than three hundred registered voters fall within one of the statutory exceptions to permit creation of a precinct of such a size, but hope this sufficiently gives you a guideline in answer to your inquiry.

I trust this sufficiently addresses your concerns. If our office may be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours very truly,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
ATTORNEY GENERAL

By:
BARBARA B. RUTLEDGE
0
Assistant Attorney General

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