Louisiana Constitution Article XI
§2. Secret Ballot; Absentee Voting; Preservation of Ballot
Section 2. In all elections by the people, voting shall be by secret ballot. The legislature shall provide a method for absentee voting. Proxy voting is prohibited. Ballots shall be counted publicly and preserved inviolate as provided by law until any election contests have been settled…
“Counted publicly” means that the ballots should be physically looked at and the voter’s selections counted for each candidate or proposition voted for. Having a function on a machine called “public counter,” that counts the total number of voters who cast a vote on a machine, is not the same as publicly counting the votes for individual candidates by the voters.
“Preserved inviolate” means the cast ballots are kept secure and untampered with in case a recount is needed. It is not possible to keep ballots secure when there are no ballots.
Currently there is a lawsuit in the 19th Judicial District Court, Callais vs Landry… that is requesting injunctive relief that would require the Secretary of State to conduct elections according to our Louisiana Constitution.
Result: There is the very likely potential that the current voting system will be declared unconstitutional. How will Louisiana conduct elections if this ruling happens next month? Is the Secretary of State ready with an alternative plan or just trying to fight and delay the suit? Why doesn’t the Secretary of State just create and use a system that is constitutional, now – today?