Ten brand-new clerks of court took office in Louisiana this year, which follows the 11 who stepped down four years ago, said Lafayette Parish Clerk of Court Louis Perret, who is president of the state association.
So if you’re doing the math, roughly a third of the state’s clerks were replaced over two election cycles. Only two were defeated at the polls, Perret said, meaning the rest left voluntarily.
Not all of that turnover can be chalked up to controversy over alleged election shenanigans, but it’s certainly a factor.
“With the increased scrutiny and the completely false allegations of corruption and rigged elections, it has driven some people away,” he says.
Louisiana is far from alone in this regard. A recent study by the Bipartisan Policy Center found that turnover among local elections officials nationwide has grown from 28% in 2004 to 39% in 2022―a 38% increase.
The study’s authors cited “increased hostility” toward election officials as a possible factor driving the growth, along with the increasing complexity of the role (due to technological, legislative, and societal changes) and an aging workforce.
LaPolitics reached Perret while he was in Baton Rouge at a continuing education event for clerks. He said much of the conversation among his colleagues was about how hard it is to recruit commissioners to help out with elections.
“The older ones don’t want to fool with being intimidated or threatened anymore,” Perret says.
As you would expect, the shortage is most pronounced in rural, sparsely populated areas. Perret has a large enough staff that he can have some do double duty as commissioners, but that’s not ideal either, as they have their own jobs to do.
In contrast to the clerks, there hasn’t been much turnover among the state’s registrars outside of a few retirements, says East Baton Rouge Registrar of Voters Steve Raborn, who is board president for his state association. His office is staffed to oversee early voting and doesn’t need to bring in Election Day reinforcements, as clerks do. Registrars are appointed by parish governments, not elected.
When it comes to election administration, Louisiana is a top-down state, as opposed to others where more authority resides at the county level. Of course, Louisiana recently had turnover at the top, but Secretary of State Nancy Landry was first assistant under her predecessor, Kyle Ardoin, so she’s hardly a newbie.
Ardoin had a complicated relationship with election conspiracy theorists. At times, he tried to placate them, allowing MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell to expound at length during a Voting System Commission meeting.
But the attacks appeared to take an emotional toll on Ardoin, and in announcing his decision not to run for reelection, he cited “pervasive lies that have eroded trust in our elections by using conspiracies so far-fetched that they belong in a work of fiction.”
Landry has drawn criticism for supporting new elections regulations despite the absence of significant fraud. Landry told LaPolitics that the changes were driven by “anecdotal evidence we heard” or “investigations that we had,” citing her campaign promise to make Louisiana No. 1 for election integrity.
Joel Watson with the Secretary of State’s office said officials are trying to recruit more young poll workers to reinforce and replace the older veterans. Once people see the process up close, they tend to come away more confident in the system, he says.
Watson says several people have called him at the office to check out various stories that they’ve heard about Louisiana’s elections.
“When they find out the facts, they always end the call by saying, ‘I’m a lot more confident now that I’ve spoken with you,’” he says.
Perret acknowledges similar experiences, but notes he has also encountered people who are determined to believe the conspiracy theories. He challenges skeptics to get involved as a paid poll worker, to see how it works for themselves.
“We need the public’s participation,” he says. “Please jump in and help us.”
THEY SAID IT: “It’s disgusting. It triggers my gag reflex…The people responsible should hide their heads in bags.” — U.S. Sen. John Kennedy on federal funds New Orleans reportedly has failed to spend, to WDSU
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
