2011 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 18 — Louisiana election code
RS 18:1314 — Absentee by mail and early voting commissioners

§1314. Absentee by mail and early voting commissioners

A. Qualifications. An absentee by mail and early voting commissioner shall be a registered voter of the parish in which he is selected to serve and shall have the other qualifications of a commissioner as otherwise provided by law.

B. Selection for primary election. (1) The parish board of election supervisors shall determine the number of absentee by mail and early voting commissioners necessary to count the absentee by mail and early voting ballots in the parish. The parish board of election supervisors shall select a minimum of three such commissioners.

(2) The parish board of election supervisors shall meet at 10:00 a.m. on the fifth day before a primary election and shall select the absentee by mail and early voting commissioners and alternate absentee by mail and early voting commissioners for the parish in the manner provided by law for the selection of commissioners and alternate commissioners. If there are not enough certified commissioners to select the appropriate number of absentee by mail and early voting commissioners and alternate absentee by mail and early voting commissioners, the board of election supervisors may select a qualified elector of the parish to serve; however, no such elector shall serve as an absentee by mail and early voting commissioner if a certified commissioner has been selected as an alternate absentee by mail and early voting commissioner.

(3) Absentee by mail and early voting commissioners and alternate absentee by mail and early voting commissioners shall be issued commissions, take the oath of office, be replaced, and be disqualified, all in the manner provided by law for commissioners and alternate commissioners.

C. Selection for general election. (1)(a) The parish board of election supervisors shall determine if the number of absentee by mail and early voting commissioners necessary to count the absentee by mail and early voting ballots in the general election can be reduced or should be increased from the number which counted absentee by mail and early voting ballots in the primary election.

(b) If it determines that the number cannot be reduced or should be increased, those persons who served as absentee by mail and early voting commissioners and alternate absentee by mail and early voting commissioners for the parish in the primary election shall serve in the general election, unless replaced or disqualified in the manner provided by law for commissioners and alternate commissioners. The number of absentee by mail and early voting commissioners for a general election shall not be less than three.

(2)(a) If the parish board determines that the number of absentee by mail and early voting commissioners can be reduced, it shall notify each person who served as an absentee by mail and early voting commissioner or alternate absentee by mail and early voting commissioner in the primary election of its decision to reduce the number of absentee by mail and early voting commissioners and of the date and time of the meeting to select the absentee by mail and early voting commissioners for the general election. The parish board shall meet at 10:00 a.m. on the fifth day before a general election and shall select the absentee by mail and early voting commissioners and alternate absentee by mail and early voting commissioners to serve in the general election for the parish.

(b)(i) The parish board shall prepare a list containing the names of all persons who served as absentee by mail and early voting commissioners in the primary election. The absentee by mail and early voting commissioners and alternate absentee by mail and early voting commissioners for the general election shall be selected from that list in the manner provided by law for the selection of commissioners and alternate commissioners. The absentee by mail and early voting commissioners so chosen shall then serve as needed for the general election.

(ii) If the list does not contain sufficient names to select the number of absentee by mail and early voting commissioners and alternate absentee by mail and early voting commissioners determined by the board to be needed for the general election, the board shall fill any remaining alternate commissioner positions from a list of those persons who were selected as alternate absentee by mail and early voting commissioners for the primary election, such list to be prepared and the selection made in the same manner provided herein for selection of absentee by mail and early voting commissioners for the general election.

(3) If the parish board determines that the number of absentee by mail and early voting commissioners should be increased, the parish board shall meet at 10:00 a.m. on the fifth day before a general election and shall select the additional absentee by mail and early voting commissioners and alternate absentee by mail and early voting commissioners to serve in the general election for that parish from the list of certified commissioners who have not been chosen to serve in the general election as a commissioner-in-charge, commissioner, or, if applicable, absentee by mail and early voting commissioner in the manner provided by law for the selection of commissioners and alternate commissioners. If there are not enough certified commissioners to select the appropriate number of absentee by mail and early voting commissioners and alternate absentee by mail and early voting commissioners, the board of election supervisors may select a qualified elector of the parish to serve; however, no such elector shall serve as an absentee by mail and early voting commissioner if a certified commissioner has been selected as an alternate absentee by mail and early voting commissioner.

D. Selection for provisional ballot counting for a primary or general election. (1) The parish board of election supervisors shall determine if absentee by mail and early voting commissioners are necessary to assist the board in counting and tabulating provisional ballots in the parish. If necessary, the parish board of election supervisors shall select the number of absentee by mail and early voting commissioners and present the number of absentee by mail and early voting commissioners to the secretary of state for approval, either in writing or by telephone.

(2) Upon approval by the secretary of state, the parish board of election supervisors shall appoint the approved number of absentee by mail and early voting commissioners for assistance to the board in counting and tabulating the provisional ballots.

(3) Absentee by mail and early voting commissioners for provisional ballot counting shall meet the qualifications set forth in Subsection A of this Section and shall be issued commissions, take the oath of office, be replaced, and be disqualified, all in the same manner as provided for by law for commissioners and alternate commissioners.

E. Compensation. An absentee by mail and early voting commissioner who serves on election day or during the counting and tabulating of provisional ballots shall receive fifty dollars for each day he serves.

F. For an election held within one year following the date of the issuance of any gubernatorial proclamation declaring a state of emergency, if a parish board of election supervisors determines that there is a parishwide shortage of absentee by mail and early voting commissioners because a significant number of absentee by mail and early voting commissioners have been temporarily displaced due to such emergency, the board may submit a written request to the secretary of state for additional absentee by mail and early voting commissioners from other parishes in the same manner as provided in R.S. 18:425(A)(4). Approval, selection, training, and reimbursement of expenses of such absentee by mail and early voting commissioners shall be in the same manner as provided in R.S. 18:425(A)(4). Nothing in Subsection A of this Section shall prohibit an absentee by mail and early voting commissioner from serving in another parish pursuant to this Subsection.

Acts 1976, No. 697, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1978. Amended by Acts 1978, No. 292, §1, eff. July 6, 1978; Acts 1980, No. 506, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1981; Acts 1981, No. 77, §1, eff. June 26, 1981; Acts 1984, No. 672, §1; Acts 1985, No. 755, §1; Acts 1988, No. 907, §2, eff. Jan. 1, 1989; Acts 1988, No. 909, §2, eff. Jan. 1, 1989; Acts 1989, No. 179, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1990; Acts 1990, No. 107, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991; Acts 1997, No. 1420, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1998; Acts 2005, No. 220, §4, eff. Jan. 1, 2006; Acts 2005, No. 431, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2006; Acts 2006, No. 403, §1, eff. June 15, 2006; Acts 2006, No. 560, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2007; Acts 2007, No. 240, §1; Acts 2010, No. 570, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2011.