The recent publication of more than 12,000 inactive Ouachita Parish voters by the Secretary of State’s office has brought to light a concerning lack of transparency in Louisiana’s voter registration process. While the practice of maintaining accurate voter rolls is crucial for election integrity, due diligence should be made to insure that those affected have a chance to correct any problems with their registration.
The primary issue lies in the limited dissemination of this critical information. By publishing the list solely in each parish’s Official Journal, the Secretary of State’s office is effectively burying this vital data where many voters are unlikely to see it.
In our parish, 12,000 names were published last week in the Ouachita Citizen. The same names were not made available to auxiliary journals in each parish, which are usually minority publications.
Voters who are unaware of their inactive status may face unexpected challenges at the polls during the upcoming November Presidential election. This could lead to confusion, longer wait times, and potentially disenfranchised voters.
While being listed as inactive doesn’t necessarily mean a voter can’t cast a ballot, it does require additional steps at the polling place for which a voter may not come prepared. For a democracy to function properly, every eligible voter should have clear, advance notice of any changes to their voting status.
Possible errors in mail delivery or data entry shouldn’t result in a voter facing unexpected hurdles on Election Day.
We are grateful for the help of Rep. Pat Moore who interceded on behalf of local voters, and received an official copy of the inactive voters and has forwarded them to our publication. In addition, Senator Katrina Jackson made contacts as well.
Thanks to jurymen Rev. Michael Thompson and Lonnie Hudson, the Police Jury will underwrite the cost of insuring that East Ouachita residents have access to the inactive list through publication in the Free Press, its auxiliary journal.
The list will be printed in its entirety next week and a link will be made available for the public to download the entire list without charge.
As we approach a critical election, it’s imperative that our election officials do everything in their power to ensure all eligible voters can exercise their rights without unnecessary obstacles.
The current handling of inactive voter lists falls short of this standard for complete transparency.
We are thankful to the Ouachita Parish Police Jury for leading the way for other Police Juries to follow until the state laws are changed concerning all official publications such as sheriff sales, marshal sales, adjudications much more, which are advertised outside of the normal purview of its minority constituencies.
