Louisiana Revised Statutes 18:1316 – Rejection of ballot having distinguishing marks
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 18:1316
- Ballot: means a paper ballot or electronic ballot, where applicable. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 18:1302
- Board: means the parish board of election supervisors of each parish. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 18:1302
- person: includes a body of persons, whether incorporated or not. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 1:10
- United States Service: means the following persons, and their spouses and dependents:
(a) A member of the armed forces while in active service. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 18:1302
A. Any ballot with a distinguishing mark or feature making the ballot susceptible of identification shall be rejected if at least a majority of the members of the board determine that the distinguishing mark was made by action of the voter. The marking of the ballot by the voter in such manner that a portion of an authorized mark to indicate a vote inadvertently extends outside the box in which it is to be placed shall not be sufficient cause to reject the ballot. Any ballot containing a combination of authorized marks and any ballot marked by a mark or an instrument other than as instructed on the ballot shall be considered as susceptible of identification and shall be rejected by the board.
B. A ballot transmitted by facsimile shall not be considered as having distinguishing marks.
C. A ballot transmitted electronically to a member of the United States Service, as defined in La. Rev. Stat. 18:1302, or a person residing outside the United States shall not be considered as having distinguishing marks.
Acts 1976, No. 697, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1978. Amended by Acts 1980, No. 506, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1981; Acts 1982, No. 166, §1, eff. July 14, 1982; Acts 1985, No. 755, §1; Acts 1992, No. 438, §1, eff. June 20, 1992; Acts 2010, No. 624, §1, eff. June 25, 2010.