2011 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 18 — Louisiana election code
RS 18:469 — Reopening of qualifying period; effect

§469. Reopening of qualifying period; effect

A. When a person who qualified as a candidate and has opposition in a primary election for a public office dies after the close of the qualifying period and before the time for closing the polls on the day of the primary election, the qualifying period for candidates in the primary election for that office shall reopen for candidates on the day after the death and shall close at 5:00 p.m. on the third day after the death or, if that day is a legal holiday, at 5:00 p.m. on the next day which is not a legal holiday. The name of the deceased candidate shall not be printed on the primary election ballot. If the primary election ballot was printed with the deceased candidate's name on it, any votes received by the deceased candidate shall be void and shall not be counted for any purpose whatsoever.

B. When, at the close of the qualifying period, no candidate has qualified for an office or the number of candidates who have qualified for an office is fewer than the number of positions to be filled in that office, the qualifying period shall be reopened, but only for the office or offices for which no candidates qualified or for which an insufficient number of candidates qualified, on the first Wednesday after the close of the qualifying period and shall close at 5:00 p.m. on the Friday thereafter or, if that day is a legal holiday, at 5:00 p.m. on the next day which is not a legal holiday. The provisions of this Subsection shall not be applicable to election of members of any state central committee or any parish executive committee of any recognized political party as provided in R.S. 18:443 and R.S. 18:444.

C. Whenever the qualifying period is reopened as required by Subsections A or B hereof, the clerk of court shall cause notice of the reopening, listing the dates and times the period shall run, to be posted in a prominent place at or near the courthouse door and also in a prominent place in the office of the clerk of court. If the qualifying period is reopened solely for the qualification of one or more municipal candidates, or, if the municipal offices to be filled by election are in a building other than the courthouse, the clerk of court shall cause the notice provided for herein to be posted in a prominent place at or near the door of the municipal building for the city for which the candidates are seeking an elective office, as well as in the court house and the clerk's office as above required.

D. Effect on primary election. (1) If the qualifying period for candidates reopens within thirty days before a primary election, all the votes cast in the primary election for that public office are void, unless the qualifying period for the office reopened and closed without additional candidates qualifying for the office. If additional candidates qualify for the office and the votes for the primary will be void for that reason, the clerk of court with whom any of the additional candidates qualified shall immediately publish in the official journal of the parish a notice to the electorate that the election for that office has been voided because new candidates qualified. Such notice shall include the dates for the rescheduled primary and general elections. If the election district includes all or part of more than one parish, the clerk of court shall notify the secretary of state, who shall notify the clerk of court of each of the parishes, and the clerk of court shall publish such notice. If the additional candidates have qualified with the secretary of state, he shall publish such notice in the official state journal.

(2) If all the votes cast in a primary election for a public office are void because of the death of a candidate, the primary election for the office shall be held on the date of the general election, and the general election for the office shall be held on the fourth Saturday after the primary election. However, if the primary election is held on the date scheduled for a congressional general election, the general election for the office shall be held on the fifth Saturday after the primary election.

Acts 1976, No. 697, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1978. Amended by Acts 1977, No. 523, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1978; Acts 1978, No. 292, §1, eff. July 6, 1978; Acts 1980, No. 445, §1, eff. July 21, 1980; Acts 1982, No. 10, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1983; Acts 1988, No. 329, §1; Acts 1988, No. 909, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1989; Acts 1991, No. 201, §2, eff. Jan. 1, 1992; Acts 1997, No. 1420, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1998.