For Immediate Release
March 14, 2023
Twin Lawsuits Challenge Republican Secretary of State R. Kyle Ardoin’s Unconstitutional Intervention in Orleans Parish Recall Election
Lawsuits seek to vacate back-room deal to reduce the number of qualified electors
Among other reasons, Secretary of State Ardoin acted outside his constitutional and statutory authority in negotiating a settlement with recall campaign leaders
New Orleans, LA - Attorneys Marion Floyd and Ron Wilson today filed legal actions in New Orleans, LA and Baton Rouge, LA challenging the authority of Louisiana Secretary of State, R. Kyle Ardoin, to eliminate 25,000 qualified electors from the count in the recall of Mayor LaToya Cantrell. The legal action is entered into on behalf of Mayor LaToya Cantrell and one additional Orleans Parish registered voter.
The attorneys filed a Petition to Vacate, nullify, set aside and/or otherwise invalidate the final judgement entered into by the Secretary of State and recall campaign leaders at the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans.
Simultaneously, the attorneys have asked for the issuance of a Writ of Mandamus to the Secretary of State, directing him to show by what authority he negotiated a settlement with the recall leaders and chose — arbitrarily — to reclassify 25,000 Orleans Parish voters as inactive.
“The Secretary of State acted without constitutional or legislative authority in reducing the number of qualified voters required to trigger a recall election,” said Marion Floyd. “Simply put, Ardoin did not have the power to make that change and make it retroactive to the date of submission of the recall petition. What he did, essentially, was re-write the law which guides recall elections in Louisiana. But that power rests with the legislature. What Ardoin did was unlawful.” Marion Floyd has extensive and high-stakes experience in criminal defense, personal injury and labor and employment matters. He’s also deeply engaged in local civic affairs. Ron Wilson is a leading American civil rights attorney and a board member of the American Civil Liberties Union, although the ACLU is not party to this lawsuit."
The whole recall process has lacked transparency,” said community and business leader William “Bill" Rouselle, who has acted as an advisor to Mayor Cantrell for many years. “The recall organizers have refused to make the petition signatures public, which is required by law. We find out the judge ruling on the recall signed the recall petition and did not notify the parties involved. And clearly the Secretary of State acted illegally in reducing the number of qualified electors to be counted in the recall,” said Rouselle. “We feel compelled to step up to the plate now because these actions by the Secretary of State could be a precursor of what will transpire in the upcoming state and local elections. They used this opportunity to demoralize our people, divide our city, and disenfranchise tens of thousands of voters in New Orleans ahead of the Governor's race. But we won’t let them take our rights away.”
Read the Petition To Vacate filed in Orleans Parish Civil District Court here.
Read the Petition for Writ of Mandamus filed in the 19th Judicial Court in Baton Rouge here.
