YES.
The Registrar of Voters Office is a public office.
Thus, citizens can enter the office and observe the actions of citizens bringing in absentee ballots and the actions of registrar employees receiving the ballots.
The Registrar has a form that is to be completed by persons who deliver absentee ballots to that office.
Whether or not this form is being utilized is unknown.
Citizen observers can also take pictures and/or record the actions of the employees and those delivering absentee ballots.
Many questions were raised on absentee ballots at the Nov. 30 trial. These questions persist, in large part, because of the lack of cooperation by Registrar Dale Sibley.
Reports of vote harvesting have surfaced again. Without the free right of inspection of the absentee voter envelope flaps, there is no real way to ensure that the Registrar's office is discharging its duties diligently.
Citizens observers in the Registrar's office could provide meaningful information on the actions of persons delivering absentee ballots and the employees receiving them. Under the circumstances of the upcoming Sheriff run-off, it probably is prudent for citizen observation of the absentee voter process in the Registrar's office.
John came to Shreveport in January of 1977 when he was transferred to Barksdale AFB.
He’s been active in Shreveport politics since deciding to make Shreveport his home.
John practiced law for 40 years and he now monitors local politics. He regularly attends Shreveport City Council and Caddo Parish Commission meetings.
John is published weekly in The Inquisitor, bi-monthly in The Forum News, and frequently in the Shreveport Times.
He enjoys addressing civic groups on local government issues and elections.