There are three constitutional amendments on the December 10th ballot, the first one concerns voting, and the other two require senate confirmation of the governor’s appointees to the State Civil Service Commission and the State Police Commission. Public Affairs Research Council President Steven Procopio said while it’s already state and federal law that US citizens aren’t allowed to vote…
“However, there is some concern that municipalities may give the right of non-US citizens to vote in their local elections. So, this amendment would essentially prohibit that in the future,” said Procopio.
Procopio said the State Civil Service Commission and State Police Commission are each made up of seven-board members, of which six are appointed by the governor. The proposed change would require the Senate to confirm the governor’s appointees. Currently, those appointees are nominated by six major private universities in Louisiana.
“It’s really a balance between is this an additional check on the governor’s powers on the other hand this is a different system where you already have a system that’s designed to reduce politics,” said Procopio.
In November there were eight constitutional amendments on the ballot and for the December 10th election, there are only three for consideration. Procopio said there was concern from the Secretary of State’s Office that the ballot was getting too long.
“And since we were going to have an election anyway, there’s not going to be an additional cost. So, to try and make it easier on the voters so they wouldn’t have to face a huge (ballot) like all eleven amendments at once,” said Procopio.
The six major private universities that submit nominations to the commissions are Centenary College, Dillard University, Louisiana Christian University, Loyola University, Tulane University, and Xavier University.
Early voting ends on December third.
Comments