Registrar of Voters' lawyer chimes in on recall

Posted: Mar 8, 2023 / 07:16 PM AST

Updated: Mar 8, 2023 / 07:31 PM AST

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NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)–The deadline for the Orleans Parish Registrar of Voters—Sandra Wilson to verify the recall signatures is fast approaching.

“I want to make clear that our client and her team are working very hard to make the deadlines,” Ryan Luminais, Attorney for Sandra Wilson said.

To count tens of thousands of signatures is a tedious process and Sandra Wilson’s attorney Ryan Luminais gave us some insight into the process and what’s next.

“Our client does not determine if the recall was successful. You will not see a press release,” he said.

In fact, according to a statute, the Registrar is only required to hand over the information to Governor John Bel Edwards and Mayor Cantrell since she’s the subject of the recall. The information they will send to the Governor is:

“The number of names that appear, the number of qualified electors in Orleans Parish, and the total number of electors in Orleans Parish voting area,” he said.

When asked if recall organizers would be notified?

“I’d suspect they’d have to hear from the Governor. I’m not sure the time limitation the Governor has to make that proclamation to everyone,” he said.

The only information that the Registrar’s Office can give us at this point is: “I can give information on what was delivered to the Office,” he said.

Luminais went on to explain in total, “About 17-thousand pages were delivered in roughly 15 boxes. Some boxes were less full.”

He said on Ash Wednesday recall organizers turned in roughly 9,000 pages of signatures, roughly in 10 boxes. Then five days later, organizers turned in roughly 8,400 pages of signatures in 5 additional boxes. Organizers had a five-day grace period for more people to sign and for people to remove their names if they wanted to do so.

He says he understands why the public wants to know more.

“At the same time we have to balance transparency with our client’s duties under the statute,” he said.

In addition to the verification and counting of the signatures, the Registrar is busy getting ready for the upcoming election.