Senators refuse to lower threshold for recalls in Louisiana
BATON ROUGE — State senators have refused to make it easier for voters to recall Louisiana’s elected officials.
The Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee deadlocked Wednesday on a proposal from Rep. Paul Hollis, a Covington Republican, to change rules for recall elections. The vote was 3-3, stalling the House-backed measure.
New Orleans Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, the Democrat who chairs the committee, cast the tie vote to keep the bill bottled up.
Under current law, a recall petition must be signed by one-third of registered voters within 180 days to hold an election on whether to recall an elected official. In districts with fewer than 1,000 registered voters, the petition requires signatures from 40 percent of them.
Hollis’ bill would have lowered the signature threshold in larger districts.
—
House Bill 272: www.legis.la.gov