(Mayor Cantrell)
Lacag: Orleans Parish recall fails to get signatures to get rid of corrupt mayor
Guest post by Christopher Alexander
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell may be the worst mayor in the country. He presides over one of the most crime-ridden cities in the country. Orleans Parish residents had had enough. On February 22, 2023, at 3:50 PM, Orleans Parish voters who decided to recall Cantrell delivered approximately 60,000 boxed signatures to Orleans Parish Registrar of Voters Sandra Wilson at the ROV office. Recall organizers provided Wilson with enough legal signatures to trigger a recall vote in Cantrell. It was an achievement no one It is thought possible. It was a true David and Goliath story, driven by the kind of tenacity and perseverance that this country could use more of.
TGP wrote about this effort:
A corrupt Democrat New Orleans mayor is one step closer to being ousted
Recall Chairman Belden Batiste returned to Wilson’s office two days later on February 24, 2023, to review his progress in verifying and certifying the recall signatures. What they saw and filmed, stunning. The boxes were placed on an open counter in the ROV office, completely unattended and with the lids removed. The boxes were removed one by one to another location in the building until the ROV crew realized Batiste was filming.
Batiste captured video evidence that the boxes of recall signatures were not properly secured after the ROV delivered them to the office and remained unsecured for at least 48 business hours before being removed to a more secure location. For at least two full business days, the evidence appears to be fully accessible to anyone. There was nothing to prevent any person from manipulating this evidence in any way including but not limited to theft of application sheets. Orleans Parish has an ROV impossible Reassuring the citizens of New Orleans that this did not happen.
We are talking here about taking back the citizens of a corrupt mayor of one of America’s most famous cities. More fundamentally, we are talking about the exercise of a core constitutional right by tens of thousands of Orleans Parish citizens. It is alarming and unacceptable that that restoration and the custody and control of the signatures that depend on that right are not handled with greater care. These boxes must be secured after delivery and fully secured 24 hours a day, 7 days a week until properly inspected and certified.
In an age where one would think it impossible for public officials to be more brazen, here it is. Will Wilson be held accountable? Will Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin, Louisiana’s Chief Election Officer, make a public statement about this and express his disapproval? We should hope so. This violation of the public trust is a cause of great concern not only to citizens in Orleans Parish, but throughout Louisiana. From this point forward, Wilson must assure the public that this important matter will be handled in a completely impartial and completely non-abuse manner. Or should resign.
Christopher Alexander is with the Louisiana Citizen Advocacy Group www.lacag.org
