Ater: Elections in Orleans unrealistic before April

Associated Press ^ | Dec 19, 2005 | By STACEY PLAISANCE

[abb]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The only thing worse than missing the original Feb. 4 election date for New Orleans mayor and city council is holding an election that would be deemed invalid, Secretary of State Al Ater said during a news conference Monday.

He said he wants to hold an election as soon as possible, but noted that organizing what he described as a proper election was going to take time. The earliest realistic date for an election would be in April or May, he said.

"We know what we have to do, but we don't yet have legal authority to do it," Ater said.

Ater said he must stay within the state's current election code, which requires a certain number of polling precincts, machines and commissioners — who are volunteers — to work them.

But there are no commissioners in areas in the city like Gentilly, Lakeview and the 9th Ward, which were severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina and subsequent flooding, he said.

Ater said he wants to consolidate precincts and possibly bring in commissioners from other areas to work the polls but to do that there are several legal obstacles he must overcome, including getting state and federal permission to override the state election code.

[abb]

The SOB's stalling for all he's worth...

[L98Fiero]

Yep.

[LA Woman3]

*ping*

[gondramB]

"Ater said he must stay within the state's current election code, which requires a certain number of polling precincts, machines and commissioners — who are volunteers — to work them.

But there are no commissioners in areas in the city like Gentilly, Lakeview and the 9th Ward, which were severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina and subsequent flooding, he said. "

This is the first half way reasonable sounding justification for a delay i've heard..but I'm still suspicious.

[BenLurkin]

Guess there won't be a mardi gras either this year.

[Bommer]

But there are no commissioners in areas in the city like Gentilly, Lakeview and the 9th Ward, which were severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina and subsequent flooding, he said.

Not having a polling place never stopped the dead from voting!

[Shermy]

What's the big deal? A city that was mostly wiped out puts off an election two or three months.

[WasDougsLamb]

Ater: Elections in Orleans unrealistic before April Ater: Uncorrupted Elections in Orleans unrealistic ever

[dannyboy72]

Why don't they just hand out ballots with thier government checks...gauranteed they'll pick those up. Maybe they should let the people WHO ARE LIVING THERE vote and let the chis for where they may? The people who are there are the ones committed to rebuilding. If you haven't made your way back there after 5 mos, you're sitting on the government teet for all it's worth and you're useless.

[CajunConservative]

*Louisiana Ping List

If you would like on or off the Louisiana Ping list please FReepmail me and your name will be added or taken off of the list.

[gondramB]

"What's the big deal? A city that was mostly wiped out puts off an election two or three months."

My suspicion is because it is the same people making the decision who will remain in power if the election is not held.

[Fresh Wind]

Iraq will never have an election in the midst of the chaos there.

[sgtbono2002]

Its funny that it will take months for an election when they think George Bush can rebuild their city in a week and get thousands of rescue workers in to them in a day.

[dfwgator]

Iraq can hold elections, but Louisiana can't?

[H. Paul Pressler IV]

The US Government set up polling place in various cities in the US where Iraqis are now living.

The Feds will have to do the same thing for all the New Orleans residents that are have been displaced by Katrina.

[bigeasy_70118]

"Ater said he must stay within the state's current election code, which requires a certain number of polling precincts, machines and commissioners — who are volunteers — to work them. But there are no commissioners in areas in the city like Gentilly, Lakeview and the 9th Ward, which were severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina and subsequent flooding, he said. " This is the first half way reasonable sounding justification for a delay i've heard..but I'm still suspicious.

You should be suspicious. The state keeps changing its reasoning for the cancellation of the election.

Judge Morvant is going to hand this guy his ass on Thursday.

[LA Woman3]

http://www.newshorn.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=680&Itemid=116

Blanco, Ater partially can undo hit to state's credibility

Contributed by Jeffrey Sadow

Monday, 19 December 2005

New Orleans elections might be held in April
Relentless public pressure and, at present, three lawsuits may be forcing the hands of Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Secretary of State Al Ater to hold New Orleans elections sooner rather than later. Doing so not only would uphold the spirit of Louisiana’s Constitution and democracy, but would provide a positive message for the a nation looking for reasons to feel it can trust the state with its resources to enable Louisiana to rebuild.

Infrastructural and cost concerns have been cited by Ater as his reasons for asking for postponement, granted by Blanco, but both Democrats have faced legitimate criticism over the validity of these excuses. They claim the regularly scheduled Feb. 4 date may be (not will be) too soon to ensure enough the presence of enough voting machines, poll commissioners, and absentee/early voting ballot administration, and that the money to be spent could be saved by combining it with a future statewide election.

But besides being questioned as illegal, the arguments for delay seem pretty spurious. Offers of assistance by other parishes, particularly next-door Jefferson which has enough infrastructure to match Orleans’, as well as the fact that a constable’s election is scheduled soon in St. Bernard Parish which has practically no electoral infrastructure has cast serious doubt on the argument that the machinery can not be put in place. Add to the fact that, given that New Orleans has wide swaths of unpopulated areas, that precinct polling locations can be combined, other past officials remained convinced the problems are made out to be bigger than they are, and, like it or not, not a lot of people are going to take advantage of pre-election day voting opportunities, and these reasons lose a lot of their luster.

Thus, increasingly it has appeared that motivations behind these Democrats, actions are one or both of Ater’s incompetence in being able to perform under these circumstances and/or they are striving for partisan advantage in the delay, theorizing that Democrats running will have differentially more access to votes and campaign resources than Republicans the longer elections are delayed. Continued speculation that Ater soon will assume duties as the new head of the Louisiana Democrats has fueled the credibility of this charge.

Both Blanco and Ater have another good reason to have as little delay as possible (while having some lag to save face). As the state’s organization in charge of formulating recovery strategies and actions recently noted image problems plague the state in its quest to receive gifts from the American people for rebuilding. Certainly yet another discouragement to federal government assistance would be the willingness of Louisiana governmental elites to twist its laws out of shape in order to justify a partisan political maneuver such as election postponement.

Hopefully as soon as today Ater and Blanco will set the New Orleans elections for early April, with any general election perhaps on the day recently set aside for statewide referenda consideration (or perhaps slightly later if there actually is some kind of genuine infrastructural problem with Orleans Parish voting, given the New Orleans charter specifies a May 1 date for terms in offices to begin.) Anything less would send yet another signal that Louisiana is not serious about doing the things necessary to make it a good investment, and would invite more application of tough love to cause necessary changes to happen in this state.

[Semper Paratus]

But no problemo holding Mardi Gras on time.

[LearsKent]

"Its funny that it will take months for an election when they think George Bush can rebuild their city in a week and get thousands of rescue workers in to them in a day."

Dead on, Sgt! Dead on!

[Jacquerie]

Louisiana, our own banana republic.