The Louisiana state Supreme Court heard the second appeal of Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins’ disqualification from running for re-election Tuesday. Attorney Jerry Harper, representing plaintiff Frances Deal, tells the court Perkins’ qualification papers were NOT in order.
“There are ten questions in this form that the candidate has to answer…under oath…correctly. Ten questions. This candidate got six of them wrong,” he told the justices.
Perkins was disqualified by a local Shreveport judge, then that decision was upheld by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The main issue with Perkins’ qualification papers was that he listed his address as a family property near the LSU-Shreveport campus, rather than the downtown condo where he resides. Harper says that alone is enough to put him out of the race… “because of his requirement to be registered, and to vote, where his homestead exemption was filed.”
Speaking for Mayor Perkins was attorney Scott Bickford, who argued disqualifying his client was, in effect, making too much over a simple clerical error.
“Election laws do not indicate that it was the purpose of lawmakers to obstruct a candidacy with mere technical difficulties,” Bickford said.
Bickford says an incorrect address should not keep Perkins from running for another term. “It’s immaterial to his qualifications, because he was a resident of Shreveport and a qualified elector there.”
The state’s High Court adjourned after hearing arguments. Their decision is expected soon.
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