§ 18:434 — Commissioners and alternate commissioners; selection; commission; disqualification;

§434. Commissioners and alternate commissioners; selection; commission; disqualification;
replacement
A. Meeting to conduct selection. (1) The parish board of election supervisors shall
meet on the second day after the close of the registration records provided in R.S. 18:135(A)
to select the commissioners and alternate commissioners for each precinct. If the second day
after the close of the registration records falls on a legal holiday, the board shall select
commissioners and alternate commissioners on the first day after such holiday that is not a
Saturday, Sunday, or other legal holiday. The meeting shall be open to the public. The board
shall have previously posted a notice on the front courthouse door designating the location
within the courthouse where the meeting is to be held.
(2) The board shall publish at least one notice, in the official journal of the parish,
of the date, time, and location of the meeting herein required. The notice shall be published
at least five days prior to the date of the meeting.
B. Method of selection. The number of commissioners required for each precinct
for the election and the same number of alternate commissioners shall be selected for each
precinct from the certified list furnished by the parish board as required in R.S. 18:431(A)(4)
in the following manner:
(1) The names of all the qualified commissioners for each precinct shall be compiled
on one list, in alphabetical order according to surnames, and numbered consecutively from
first to last.
(2) The parish board of election supervisors shall select a person to conduct the
drawing.
(3) A ball made of plastic or a similar material with a number corresponding to each
of the numbers on the compiled list of proposed commissioners for a precinct shall be placed
in a receptacle and thoroughly mixed. The members of the parish board of election
supervisors may participate in the mixing.
(4) The person conducting the drawing shall draw the same number of balls as the
number of commissioners required to serve the precinct at the election from the receptacle
and shall announce and publicly display the number on each ball as it is drawn. Each person
whose number on the compiled list of commissioners corresponds with the number on a ball
drawn from the receptacle shall be a commissioner for the precinct unless he has already
been selected as the commissioner-in-charge for the precinct.
(5) If one of the persons selected already has been selected as the commissioner-in-charge, the ball drawn for that person shall be set aside, and the drawing shall continue until
a person not previously selected as the commissioner-in-charge is selected.
(6) The parish board of election supervisors may opt to select one of the
commissioners needed in each precinct from the lists of all persons qualified to serve as a
commissioner 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 for each precinct for which it makes such a selection.
(7) When the appropriate number of commissioners have been selected, as provided
in Paragraphs (4), (5), and (6) of this Subsection, the person conducting the drawing shall
determine if each political party recognized pursuant to R.S. 18:441(C) having one or more
local or municipal candidates on the ballot to be voted on in the precinct is represented by
at least one commissioner. If none, one ball shall be set aside for each political party
recognized pursuant to R.S. 18:441(C) thus still to be represented, beginning with the last
ball drawn for a person affiliated with a political party recognized pursuant to R.S. 18:441(C)
that has more than one commissioner at the precinct. The drawing shall continue until one
of the persons affiliated with each of such political parties is selected, unless there are no
remaining certified commissioners in the parish to represent such political parties.
(8) After the appropriate number of commissioners have been selected for each of
the precincts in an election, the person conducting the selection shall select the alternate
commissioners by drawing additional balls from the receptacle for each of the precincts and
shall announce and publicly display the number on each ball as it is drawn. Each person
whose number on the compiled list of qualified commissioners corresponds with the number
on a ball drawn from the receptacle shall be an alternate commissioner for the precinct for
which selected unless he already has been selected as the commissioner-in-charge for the
precinct, in which event the ball drawn for that person shall be set aside and the drawing
shall continue until a person not previously selected as the commissioner-in-charge for the
precinct is selected.
(9) The drawing shall continue in this manner until the appropriate number of
commissioners and alternate commissioners have been selected for each precinct in each
parish. However, if there are not enough qualified commissioners to select the appropriate
number of commissioners and alternate commissioners for each precinct, the parish board
of election supervisors shall select a person to serve as a commissioner or an alternate
commissioner from the list containing the names of persons within that ward who have
received certificates of instruction from the clerk of court pursuant to R.S. 18:431(A)(1). If
no person on that list is available to serve as a commissioner or alternate commissioner, the
parish board of election supervisors shall select any person within the parish who has
received a certificate of instruction from the clerk of court pursuant to R.S. 18:431(A)(1).
C. Commission. Once the commissioners and alternate commissioners are selected
for a primary and general election, the parish board of election supervisors shall immediately:
(1) Issue a commission to each person who was selected as a commissioner together
with a written notice stating the time, date, and place of the course of instruction to be held
before the election.
(2) Issue a commission to each person who was selected as an alternate
commissioner, together with a written notice stating the time, date, and place of the course
of instruction to be held before the election and a written notice stating that an alternate
commissioner who does not replace an absent or unqualified commissioner may serve as a
watcher in the primary and general elections if his name is included on a timely filed list of
watchers.
D. Replacement of a commissioner. (1) If prior to the day of the election a
commissioner notifies the parish board of election supervisors that he is unable to serve as
commissioner, the parish board of election supervisors shall select an alternate commissioner
to serve in place of the absent commissioner. An alternate commissioner who replaces an
absent commissioner in a primary election shall replace the absent commissioner in the
general election. If there are no alternate commissioners or an insufficient number of
alternate commissioners available, the parish board of election supervisors shall select a
person to serve as commissioner from the list containing the names of persons within that
ward who have received certificates of instruction from the clerk of court pursuant to R.S.
18:431(A)(1). If no person on that list is available to serve as commissioner, the parish board
of election supervisors shall select any person within the parish who has received a certificate
of instruction from the clerk of court pursuant to R.S. 18:431(A)(1). If there is no such
qualified person available, the parish board of election supervisors shall select a watcher.
(2) If a commissioner fails to appear at the polling place at least thirty minutes before
the time when the polls are to open on election day, or if a commissioner is selected as
commissioner-in-charge, the commissioner-in-charge shall select an alternate commissioner
to serve in place of the absent commissioner. An alternate commissioner who replaces an
absent commissioner in a primary election shall replace the absent commissioner in the
general election. If there are no alternate commissioners or an insufficient number of
alternate commissioners available, the commissioner-in-charge shall select a person to serve
as commissioner from the list containing the names of those who have received certificates
of instruction that was furnished him by the parish board of election supervisors pursuant to
R.S. 18:431(B)(4). If no person on that list is available to serve as commissioner, the
commissioner-in-charge shall select any person present at the polls who possesses the
qualifications of a commissioner as set forth in R.S. 18:425(B). If there is no such qualified
person available, the commissioner-in-charge shall select a watcher.
(3) If by 8:00 a.m. on the day of the election the commissioner-in-charge has been
unable to replace a commissioner pursuant to this Subsection, any replacement thereafter
made shall require the approval of the clerk of court.
E. Disqualification. (1) A commissioner who fails to appear at the polling place at
least thirty minutes before the opening of the polls on election day is disqualified from
serving as such in the next primary and general elections held in the ward where he is
registered to vote unless he establishes to the satisfaction of the parish board of election
supervisors that his absence was for just cause.
(2) Upon a finding by the parish board of election supervisors that a certified
commissioner has performed his duties in a negligent manner, after appropriate hearing and
opportunity for the commissioner to be heard, the board shall disqualify the commissioner
from service as a commissioner. Such disqualification shall continue until the commissioner
has been recertified as having again attended the course of instruction for commissioners
conducted pursuant to R.S. 18:431(A) and as having achieved a satisfactory score on the test
prepared by the secretary of state for that course of instruction. Performance of duties in a
negligent manner shall include failure to perform any of the duties of commissioner or
performance of any of the duties of commissioner incorrectly.
F. Removal for cause. Any commissioner selected under the provisions of this
Section may be removed for cause by the parish board of election supervisors at any time
after his selection and before the closing of the polls on election day. Any commissioner
removed for cause under the provisions of this Subsection shall not serve as a commissioner
in any election after his removal.

Legislative History

Acts 1976, No. 697, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1978; Acts 1977, No. 471, §1; Acts 1978, No. 292, §1, eff. July 6, 1978; Acts 1979, No. 229, §1, eff. July 13, 1979; Acts 1981, No. 77, §1, eff. June 26, 1981; Acts 1983, No. 519, §1, eff. July 8, 1983; Acts 1984, No. 672, §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 1988, No. 907, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1989; Acts 1988, No. 909, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1989; Acts 1989, No. 179, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1990; Acts 1990, No. 107, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991; Acts 1991, No. 201, §1, July 2, 1991; Acts 1993, No. 418, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994; Acts 1997, No. 1420, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1998; Acts 2001, No. 363, §1; Acts 2001, No. 451, §6, eff. Jan. 12, 2004; Acts 2006, No. 403, §1, eff. June 15, 2006; Acts 2006, No. 560, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2007; Acts 2007, No. 240, §1; Acts 2010, No. 570, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2011; Acts 2017, No. 176, §1, eff. June 14, 2017; Acts 2022, No. 274, §1, eff. June 3, 2022; Acts 2024, No. 390, §1; Acts 2025, No. 386, §1.