§433.   Commissioners-in-charge; course of instruction; selection; commission; disqualification; replacement

A. Course of instruction. (1) The clerk of court shall conduct a course of instruction for commissioners-in-charge during the period beginning August first through the end of December of each year. The course shall be open to any certified commissioner who meets the qualifications set forth in R.S. 18:424(B).

(2) Repealed by Acts 2009, No. 369, §3.

(3) During the week prior to the date scheduled for the course of instruction, the clerk shall notify each commissioner of the date, time, and place where he will conduct the course of instruction. The course of instruction shall include but shall not necessarily be restricted to instruction in the operating of voting machines, relevant laws and regulations concerning the conduct of elections, and matters pertaining to the powers and duties of commissioners-in-charge. The clerk shall instruct the commissioners-in-charge that it is their duty to offer any voter who does not have picture identification as provided in R.S. 18:562(A) an affidavit to sign to that effect.

(4) The clerk shall issue a certificate to each person who successfully completes the course of instruction by being present for the entire period of the course.

(5) On or before December thirty-first of each year, but after the date of the course of instruction, the clerk of court shall file with the parish board of election supervisors a certified list containing the name of each person to whom he has issued a certificate, together with the social security number, the party affiliation, the mailing address, and the ward in which each such person is registered to vote. As soon as possible thereafter, the clerk of court shall enter the list in the state voter registration computer system.

(6) A person who receives a certificate for attending a course of instruction for commissioners-in-charge may be selected as hereafter provided to serve in any precinct of the ward where he is registered to vote.

B. Selection. (1) The parish board of election supervisors shall meet at 10:00 a.m. on the second Friday in January of each year to select a commissioner-in-charge to serve at each precinct in the parish. The meeting shall be open to the public. The board shall have previously posted a notice on the front door of the courthouse stating the location within the courthouse where the meeting is to be held. The selection of commissioners-in-charge shall be made from the certified list furnished by the clerk as required by Paragraph (A)(5) of this Section and in the manner hereafter set forth.

(2) For any precinct in which only one qualified person on the list resides, that person shall be appointed commissioner-in-charge.

(3) For any precinct in which more than one qualified person on the list resides, the names of all such persons shall be compiled on one list, in alphabetical order according to surnames, and numbered consecutively from first to last. The parish board of election supervisors shall select a person to conduct a drawing. A ball made of plastic or similar material with a number corresponding to each of the numbers on the compiled list of qualified commissioners-in-charge for each precinct shall be placed in a receptacle and thoroughly mixed. The members of the board may participate in the mixing. The person conducting the drawing shall draw one ball from the receptacle and shall announce and publicly display the number on the ball. The person whose number on the compiled list of qualified commissioners-in-charge corresponds with the number on the ball drawn from the receptacle shall be the commissioner-in-charge for the precinct.

(4) For any precinct in which no qualified person on the list resides, the parish board of election supervisors shall select a qualified person whose name is on the list and who resides in the ward in which the precinct is located. The selection shall be by drawing in the same manner as is provided in Paragraph (3) of this Subsection.

(5) If the number of persons eligible to serve as commissioners-in-charge who reside in the ward is insufficient to provide a commissioner-in-charge for each precinct, the parish board of election supervisors shall select a qualified person on the list within the parish. If the number of persons eligible to serve as commissioner-in-charge within the parish is insufficient to provide a commissioner-in-charge for each precinct, the parish board of election supervisors shall appoint sufficient additional persons who have attended a general course of instruction for commissioners and have received a certificate of instruction within the preceding year to provide a commissioner-in-charge for each precinct in each ward.

(6) The parish board of election supervisors may opt to select the commissioner-in-charge for any precinct from the lists of all persons qualified to serve as a commissioner-in-charge in the entire parish without utilizing the selection process set forth in Paragraphs (2) through (5) of this Subsection. The parish board of election supervisors must vote unanimously to make such a selection.

(7) Any person on the list of qualified persons furnished by the clerk who is not chosen as a commissioner-in-charge shall be eligible to serve as a commissioner.

(8) After the commissioners-in-charge are selected, the parish board of election supervisors shall compile a list containing the name, social security number, party affiliation, and mailing address of each, and the clerk of court shall enter the list in the state voter registration computer system.

C. Commission. Immediately after the commissioners-in-charge are selected, the parish board of election supervisors shall issue a commission to each commissioner-in-charge.

D. Term of office. A commissioner-in-charge shall serve a term of office of one year, commencing on the third Monday in January of the year of selection, provided that the commissioner-in-charge remains on the list of certified commissioners during his term of office.

E.(1) Removal. The parish board of election supervisors may remove any commissioner-in-charge for cause.

(2) Disqualification. Upon a finding by the parish board of election supervisors that a commissioner-in-charge has performed his duties in a negligent manner, after appropriate hearing and opportunity for the commissioner-in-charge to be heard, the board shall disqualify him from service as a commissioner-in-charge. Such disqualification shall continue until the commissioner-in-charge has been recertified as having again attended the entirety of the course of instruction for commissioners-in-charge conducted pursuant to R.S. 18:433(A). Performance of duties in a negligent manner shall include failure to perform any of the duties of commissioner-in-charge or performance of any of the duties of commissioner-in-charge incorrectly.

F. Vacancy. A vacancy in office caused by the removal for cause, death, disqualification, or resignation of a commissioner-in-charge shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term of office in the same manner as the original appointment.

G. Replacement. (1) Except as provided in Subsection H of this Section, if it becomes certain that a commissioner-in-charge will not be able to serve for a primary election, or if a commissioner-in-charge fails to attend a course of instruction held immediately prior to a primary election as provided in R.S. 18:431(B), the parish board of election supervisors shall select a replacement commissioner-in-charge who shall serve for both the primary and general elections. Except as provided in Subsection H of this Section, if it becomes certain that a commissioner-in-charge will not be able to serve for a general election, or if a commissioner-in-charge fails to attend the course of instruction held prior to a general election, the parish board of election supervisors shall select a replacement commissioner-in-charge who shall serve for the general election.

(2) The selection of a replacement commissioner-in-charge as required by Paragraph (1) of this Subsection shall be made promptly upon receipt by the board of the list prepared by the clerk of court of all persons who have successfully completed the course of instruction for a particular election. The replacement commissioner-in-charge shall be selected at random from the following categories in the order of priority listed:

(a) A commissioner or alternate commissioner who has received a certificate of instruction from a course of instruction for commissioners-in-charge and who has successfully completed the course of instruction held immediately prior to the particular election, or, if none,

(b) A commissioner who has received a certificate of instruction from a general course of instruction for commissioners and who has successfully completed the course of instruction held immediately prior to the particular election, or, if none,

(c) An alternate commissioner who has received a certificate of instruction from a general course of instruction for commissioners and who has successfully completed the course of instruction held immediately prior to the particular election.

H. Replacement for failing to appear. (1) If a commissioner-in-charge fails to appear at the polling place at least thirty minutes before the time when the polls are to open on election day, the commissioners in attendance at the polling place shall immediately notify the clerk of court of the absence. Immediately upon receipt of the notice, the clerk of court shall select a replacement commissioner-in-charge for that precinct. Subject to the provisions of Subsection G of this Section, a replacement commissioner-in-charge selected for a primary election also shall serve for the general election. The replacement commissioner-in-charge shall be selected from the following categories in the order of priority listed:

(a) A commissioner serving at the polling place who has attended a course of instruction for commissioners-in-charge and the course of instruction for the particular election.

(b) A person who has attended both a course of instruction for commissioners-in-charge and the course of instruction for the particular election.

(c) A commissioner serving at the polls who has attended the course of instruction for the particular election.

(d) An alternate commissioner serving at the polls who has attended a course of instruction for the particular election.

(2) A commissioner-in-charge who fails to appear at the polling place at least thirty minutes before the opening of the polls on election day is disqualified for the remainder of his term unless he establishes to the satisfaction of the parish board of election supervisors that his absence was for just cause.

I. Commission and oath. The president, or in his absence or inability the secretary, of the parish board of election supervisors shall promptly issue a commission to a replacement commissioner-in-charge selected under the provisions of Subsection G or H of this Section. The commissioners present at the polling place shall administer the constitutional oath or affirmation to the replacement commissioners-in-charge.

J. Powers, duties, and functions. A replacement commissioner-in-charge selected under the provisions of Subsection F, G, or H of this Section shall exercise the same powers, duties, and functions and shall receive the compensation of a commissioner-in-charge.

Acts 1976, No. 697, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1978. Amended by Acts 1977, No. 471, §1; Acts 1979, No. 229, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1980; Acts 1981, No. 77, §1, eff. June 26, 1981; Acts 1983, No. 519, §1, eff. July 8, 1983; Acts 1985, No. 754, §1; Acts 1986, No. 669, §1; Acts 1987, No. 831, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1988; Acts 1988, No. 374, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1989; Acts 1989, No. 179, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1990; Acts 1990, No. 107, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991; Acts 1993, No. 418, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994; Acts 1997, No. 1420, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1998; Acts 1999, No. 254, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2000; Acts 2001, No. 363, §1; Acts 2001, No. 451, §6, eff. Jan. 12, 2004; Acts 2006, No. 560, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2007; Acts 2009, No. 369, §§1, 3; Acts 2010, No. 570, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2011; Acts 2013, No. 383, §1, eff. June 18, 2013; Acts 2014, No. 60, §1, eff. May 16, 2014; Acts 2018, No. 584, §1, eff. May 28, 2018.