I have made several public requests to Caddo Registrar of Voters’ Dale Sibley that should be answered by Wednesday, Feb. 7. Some of these have been requested by third parties who will remain
anonymous. I extend this courtesy to many citizens on many occasions.
I have filed litigation to enforce requests make under the Louisiana Public Records Act many times over the past 20 years. Hopefully, this will not be needed in this situation.
All of these requests deal with internal operations of the Registrar's office. They concern the performance of that office which has been seriously questioned after the November Caddo Sheriff run election and the subsequent litigation.
Here are the requests:
1. Copy of all the minutes of the Election Board of Supervisors 2023 meetings
2. Copy of the current Policies and Procedures Manual of the Registrar's office
3. List of current employees and date of hire and list of employees on Registrar's date of hire
4. Blank copy of the absentee voter "cure sheet" which Sibley testified about in the December judicial challenge of Sheriff election vote.
5. Blank copy of the form that is completed when absentee voter envelopes are delivered to the Registrar's office that Sibley testified about in the December hearing.
6. The number of overtime 2023 hours submitted by Sibley and the pay he received for the same.
Many other questions should be promptly answered by Sibley. See the SettleTalk column that was published online and in the Feb. 2 issue of FOCUS SB, printed below.
The upcoming March 23 election for Sheriff and the presidential primary will most likely generate many, many more absentee voters as well as early voters. Without the institution of substantial internal safeguards, it is possible that there will be subsequent litigation after the Sheriff election.
Many voters are asking how to remove Sibley permanently from his office. Some suggest that Sibley be placed on administrative leave until after the March election and a third party be named to handle his duties.
CADDO REGISTRAR OF VOTERS SHOULD VOLUNTARILY RELEASE INFORMATION ON NOVEMBER CADDO SHERIFF ELECTION
The runoff election for Caddo Sheriff in November last year and the resulting litigation over the one vote margin has raised many questions concerning the Caddo Registrar of Voter's office. The Caddo District court hearing identified many questionable and illegal votes that were counted.
Here is a list of the questions that should be answered voluntarily by Registrar Dale Sibley:
1. How many absentee voters were contacted by your office in an effort to cure the incomplete/inaccurate completion of the voter flap on the absentee ballot envelope--and how many of these ballots were corrected.
2. Have you instituted/modified any office procedures concerning the cure of incomplete/inaccurate completion of the voter flap on absentee ballots, and if so, what action(s) were taken.
3. How many temporary workers did your office employ to assist in the absentee ballot collection and inspection process and what training was given to the workers reviewing the absentee ballot flaps before the ballot envelope was detached.
4. Have you instituted/modified any training procedures for temporary workers to be utilized in the upcoming March election for reviewing the absentee voter flaps before the ballot envelope is detached.
5. What procedures have you implemented since November 2023 to identify frequent witnesses on absentee voter flaps, and then to ascertain if said witnesses were family members.
6. What procedures have you implemented since November 2023 to identify frequent witnesses on absentee voter flaps, and then to ascertain if said persons witnessed more than one flap of a non-family member.
7. Since becoming Registrar in 2019 has your office purged the voter roles of persons convicted of felons as per the information provided to your office monthly by the Caddo Clerk of Court.
8. Since becoming Registrar in 2019 has your office purged the voter roles of interdicted persons as per the information provided to your office monthly by the Caddo Clerk of Court after checking the actual judgment of interdiction.
9. Since becoming Registrar in 2019 has your office requested the Caddo Sheriff, the Caddo District Attorney, the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections and/or the Louisiana Department of State to send felony conviction information to your office, and if this information was received were voter rolls purged.
10. Since becoming Registrar in 2019 has your office requested information from the Louisiana Department of Health and/or the Louisiana Department of State of the names of persons who have died in Caddo Parish, and if this information was received were voter rolls purged.
11. Since becoming Registrar in 2019 has your office received information from the Louisiana Department of State that the Department has cancelled the voter registrations of Caddo voters due to their death, and if so, were voter rolls purged.
12. Since becoming Registrar in 2019 has your office searched obituaries for deceased persons, and if so from what sources, for purposes of purging voter rolls.
The answers to these questions will provide needed information to evaluate the performance of the Registrar and of his office. This information is critical to the integrity of the election process and should be provided without hoop jumping and/or litigation.