The Louisiana House has passed a bill that would lower the threshold of signatures required in order to trigger a recall election. Bill sponsor and Covington Representative Paul Hollis took questions from Baton Rouge Rep. Denise Marcelle about the numbers of registered voters that would be required to sign a recall petition, based on city, parish, or district population.
(Marcelle) “This changes the percentage?” (Hollis) “It is. Currently we have four tiers. We have 40, 33, 35 and 20,” Hollis says, referring to the percentages needed for a recall, based on population in the given district.
Hollis’s bill heading to the Senate would require signatures from 50 percent of the number of people who voted in the election for that office. He says, under current law, just about ANY recall of a public figure is virtually impossible because of the huge number of verified signatures required….:
“It’s more challenging to remove somebody from office…to get signatures in a larger district than in smaller districts.”
A recent effort to recall New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell fell far short of the required signatures needed to get a ballot. Hollis says other states have passed similar legislation, so that citizens can feel they have more control when they grow dissatisfied with elected leaders…:
“The last time I checked there was 19, and an additional one that has just come on board this year.”
By a vote of 71-to-29, the bill clears the House and will move to the Senate for committee review.
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