A district court judge will issue a ruling Monday following a third hearing seeking to halt a recall election against Elton Mayor Kesia Lemoine.

District Court Judge Steve Gunnell said Friday he will issue a ruling by noon Monday in the lawsuit seeking to block the state from calling the election after a recall petition was filed with the state in November. The election has been set for for April 27.

Connor Junkin, attorney for the Secretary of State’s office, said the Secretary of State’s office needs to know if the election is going to be on the April ballot.

Lemoine and her attorney, Kamie Dominic, filed a lawsuit in December seeking to stop the recall petition and its election after questions were raised concerning discrepancies with addresses and voter registration of those who signed the petition calling for Lemoine’s removal.

During brief testimony Friday, Lemoine said she has been mayor since January 2022. She described her first year in office as “very challenging” with the recall efforts.

Gunnell said the legal issue is what can you challenge after a petition has been certified and if a voter has not changed their address and still lives in the same precinct, does that prevent them from signing a petition.

Jeff Davis Parish Registrar of Voters Joann Blair, who has worked for the office for 33 years, explained the procedures her office used to verify signatures on the 21-page petition. She had 15 days to certify the petition after receiving it on Nov. 17.

“My job as registrar of voters is to receive the document, verify the signatures, certify the signatures and send it to the proper authority which is the Governor’s Office,” Blair said.

Blair said the signatures were matched to voters using their residential address and birth year. The signatures were also matched using signatures on the voter records and with information from the Office of Motor Vehicles.

Blair said at the time the petition was presented it contained 252 signatures, but three were rejected including one person who had died since signing it and two whose addresses did not match those on file.

Of the 249 valid signatures, only 245, or 40 percent of the town’s active 612 voters, were needed to sign the petition, she said.

Blair testified that no challenges were raised concerning the homestead exemption of those who signed the petition and that she never received any information that led her to believe the signatures or addresses were incorrect before submitting it to the Governor’s Office on Nov. 28.

Two days after submitting the petition to the governor, Blair said Greg Davis told her he had driven around Elton and had found discrepancies in the recall petition.

She said there is no way to know that a voter has moved unless someone brings it to her attention, notifies her office or voter cards are returned as undeliverable. Voters are canvassed and inactive voters are removed annually. The last canvas occurred in May 2023, prior to the petition being certified and everyone who signed the petition were sent an address confirmation card in December, Blair said.

The court on Friday heard from nine witnesses including the recall petition co-chairman Marilyn Granger and seven people whose names were on the petition, some with questionable addresses.

Granger said she maintains her homestead exemption on Rose Alley, but resided on St. Mary Street at the time she signed the petition.

Kirrah Carmon testified that she was living in Lake Charles when she signed the petition, but had used her childhood home address which she considered her “permanent address.” Carmon said she had been living in Lake Charles since May 2023, but signed the petition in November using an address on Martin Luther King, according to court documents.

Kaydee Ceasar, who had signed both recall petitions, said she understood that by signing the petition she was helping recall the Elton mayor’s election. Ceasar said the first petition was presented to her by her cousin Roderick Williams. The second petition was presented to her by Marilyn Granger, she said.

William Ridihalgh Jr. testified that he signed the petition on Aug. 29 using a previous address on Yoakum Street, although he had moved three blocks down to Main Street.

Tracy Barron said she signed the petition using her old St. Joseph Street address. Barron said she had moved from there about six months ago and had her homestead exemption at 1210 Second Street.

Resident Takedia Fontenot said she was living on Yoakum Street at the time, but used the address of a previous home she rented on Martin Luther King.