§1300.2. Petition for recall election; campaign finance disclosure

A.(1) Whenever the recall of any public officer is sought, a petition shall be directed to the governor. The petition shall be limited to the request that an election be called and held in the voting area for the purpose of recalling the officer. No recall petition shall seek an election for the recall of more than one public officer, individually, in the same recall petition.

(2) The secretary of state shall provide a form approved by the attorney general to be used for the petition for a recall election. Such form shall be in conformity with the provisions of this Chapter and R.S. 18:3. All recall petitions shall be on an approved form or on a form which contains the same information as required by the approved form and any petition not on such a form shall be invalid.

B.(1) All signatures on recall petitions shall be handwritten.

(2) The petition shall be signed by a percentage of the total number of electors of the voting area wherein and for which a recall election is petitioned as provided in Paragraph (3) of this Subsection.

(3)(a) If fewer than one thousand qualified electors reside within the voting area, the petition shall be signed by at least forty percent of the electors.

(b) If one thousand or more but fewer than twenty-five thousand qualified electors reside within the voting area, the petition shall be signed by at least thirty-three and one-third percent of the electors.

(c) If twenty-five thousand or more but fewer than one hundred thousand qualified electors reside within the voting area, the petition shall be signed by at least twenty-five percent of the electors.

(d) If one hundred thousand or more qualified electors reside within the voting area, the petition shall be signed by at least twenty percent of the electors.

C.(1) Prior to the entering of any signatures on a petition, the chairman designated to represent the petitioners shall file with the secretary of state a copy of the recall petition which will be used and copies of a picture identification that contain the name and signature of the chairman and vice chairman, respectively, or copies of current utility bills, bank statements, government checks, paychecks, or other government documents that show the name and address of the chairman and vice chairman, respectively. Upon receipt of the recall petition, the secretary of state shall endorse thereon the fact and the date of filing. A copy shall be transmitted by the secretary of state to the registrar of voters for each parish in which the recall election is to be held. The chairman shall list on the petition every parish that is wholly or partially within the voting area where the recall election is to be held. The petition shall be considered filed when it is received in the office of the secretary of state, or at the time it is postmarked by the United States Postal Service or is receipted on a return receipt request form, if it is subsequently received in the office of the secretary of state.

(2) The signed and dated petition shall be submitted to the registrar of voters for each parish within the voting area not later than one hundred eighty days after the day on which the copy of the petition was filed with the secretary of state; however, where fewer than one thousand qualified electors reside within the voting area, the petition shall be submitted to the registrar of voters not later than ninety days after the day on which the copy of the petition is filed with the secretary of state. If the final day for submitting the signed and dated petition falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the deadline for filing such petition shall be on the next day which is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.

(3)(a) The chairman shall file notice with the registrar on the third day before the petition is submitted to the registrar that he will submit the petition and the date of such submission, unless such submission is made within three days prior to the expiration of the period for submitting such petition. Such notice of submission shall be a public record. If the notice filed with the registrar on the third day before the petition is submitted includes a date for submitting the signed and dated petition which falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or other legal holiday, the registrar shall so inform the chairman and advise the chairman of the next day which is not a Saturday, Sunday, or other legal holiday and on which the petition is to be submitted.

(b) The chairman shall provide written notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the public officer whose recall is sought on the third day before the petition is submitted to the registrar.

D. Each elector, at the time of signing the petition, shall enter his address and the date on which he signed beside or underneath his signature; however, if a person is unable to write, as provided in R.S. 18:1300.4, the two witnesses shall date their signatures. In addition, each petition shall be in compliance with the provisions of R.S. 18:3. In determining the number of qualified electors who signed the petition in any parish, the registrar of voters shall not count any signature which is undated or bears a date prior to the date on which the copy of the petition initially was filed with the secretary of state or after the date of the submission of the petition to the registrar except as otherwise provided in R.S. 18:1300.3(B). The registrar shall not receive or certify a petition submitted to him for certification unless it is submitted to him timely.

E. The secretary of state shall notify the Supervisory Committee on Campaign Finance Disclosure of the filing of a copy of a recall petition to be used to seek the recall of a public officer, including the date of such filing, the officer who is the subject of the petition, and the names and addresses of the chairman and vice chairman designated on the petition. The Campaign Finance Disclosure Act shall be applicable to persons supporting or opposing the recall of a public officer as provided in R.S. 18:1486.

Amended by Acts 1968, No. 590, §1; Acts 1977, No. 473, §1; Acts 1979, No. 148, §1; Acts 1984, No. 672, §1; Acts 1985, No. 754, §1; Acts 1986, No. 669, §1; Acts 1988, No. 909, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1989; Acts 1990, No. 107, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991; Acts 1995, No. 555, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1996; Acts 1995, No. 1046, §1, eff. June 29, 1995; Acts 2001, No. 1032, §7; Acts 2002, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 130, §1, eff. April 23, 2002; Acts 2003, No. 1220, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2004; Acts 2010, No. 621, §1; Acts 2018, No. 257, §1, eff. May 15, 2018; Acts 2018, No. 535, §1, eff. May 23, 2018.