§465. Nominating petitions

A. Time and place of filing. A nominating petition shall be filed with the official with whom the candidate qualifies and shall accompany the notice of candidacy.

B. Method of nominating candidates. A person may only be nominated as a candidate in a primary election by persons who are registered to vote on the office he seeks who sign a nominating petition for him no more than one hundred twenty days before the qualifying period opens for candidates in the primary election. In addition to his signature, each voter who signs a nominating petition shall date his signature and shall provide the ward and precinct in which he is registered to vote, his residence address, including the municipal number, the apartment number, if any, the rural route and box number, or any other physical description that will identify his actual place of residence. Once a voter has signed a nominating petition, he may not withdraw the nomination. The secretary of state shall prepare forms which may be used by any person who seeks nomination as a candidate by nominating petition. The secretary of state shall furnish copies of the forms to each clerk of court, and the forms shall be available, upon request, at the office of the secretary of state or at the office of the clerk of court. Nothing in this Subsection shall be construed to require nominating petitions to be filed only on forms prepared by the secretary of state.

C. Number of signatures required. The number of qualified voters who must timely sign a nominating petition is:

(1) For a candidate for an office voted on throughout the state--five thousand, not less than five hundred of which shall be from each of the congressional districts into which the state is divided.

(2) For a candidate for membership on the Public Service Commission--one thousand from within that district.

(3) For a candidate for any of the following offices:

(a) Louisiana Supreme Court Justice--one thousand from within that district.

(b) United States Representatives in Congress--one thousand from within that district.

(c) Member of the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education--one thousand from within that district.

(d) Judge of a court of appeal--five hundred from within that district.

(e) Any officer elected from throughout a judicial district--five hundred from within the district.

(f) Louisiana Senate--five hundred from within the senatorial district.

(g) Louisiana House of Representatives--four hundred from within the representative district.

(h) Any officer elected from throughout a parish--four hundred.

(i) Any officer elected from throughout a ward--one hundred for member of a parish governing authority and for member of a parish or city school board and one hundred for any other.

(4) For a candidate for a municipal office--fifty in a municipality having a population of five thousand or less, two hundred in a municipality having a population of more than five thousand but less than twenty-five thousand, three hundred in a municipality having a population of twenty-five thousand or more but less than fifty thousand, five hundred in a municipality having a population of fifty thousand or more but less than one hundred thousand, seven hundred fifty in a municipality having a population of one hundred thousand or more but less than three hundred thousand, and one thousand in a municipality having a population of three hundred thousand or more.

(5) For a candidate for membership on a political party committee - the lesser of four hundred or ten percent of the qualified voters in the voting area who are registered as being affiliated with the same political party as the candidate.

(6) Any office not hereinabove provided for shall require the signatures of at least one-half of one percent of the registered voters in the voting area from which the officer is elected. The number of signatures of registered voters required shall be calculated based on the number of voters who are registered thirty days before the qualifying period ends.

(7) Notwithstanding any provision of this Section to the contrary, if qualifying for any public office is reopened pursuant to R.S. 18:469(A) after the death of a candidate - twenty-five in the area from which the public officer is elected.

D. Form. Each sheet of the nominating petition shall set forth the candidate's name, the address of his domicile, the office for which the signers nominate him, the political party with which he is affiliated, if any, and the date of the primary election for which he seeks to qualify. The name of each voter who signed the nominating petition shall be typed or legibly written on the petition, and each signature on the nominating petition shall be dated and witnessed by the candidate or the person who obtained the signature on his behalf. The candidate and all persons who obtained signatures on his behalf shall certify on the nominating petition that to the best of their knowledge, information, and belief all of the signatures on the nominating petition are genuine and all of the statements contained in the nominating petition are true and correct.

E. Certification. (1)(a) A nominating petition shall be submitted to the registrars of voters in the parishes where the signers reside. A nominating petition shall be submitted to the registrars in such parishes not less than thirty days before the qualifying period ends for candidates in the primary election or, in the case of presidential electors, in the presidential election, except that in a special election called pursuant to R.S. 18:402(E), 601(A)(2), or 1279, a nominating petition shall be submitted by the candidate to the registrars of voters in such parishes not less than fourteen days before the qualifying period ends for candidates in the special election. If the final day for submitting a nominating petition to the registrars of voters falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, then the next day which is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday shall be deemed to be the final day for submitting the nominating petition.

(b) In the case of an election for which qualifying has been reopened pursuant to R.S. 18:469(A) after the death of a candidate, the nominating petition shall be submitted by the candidate during such qualifying period to the registrars of voters in the parishes where the signers reside.

(2) The registrar for each parish shall endorse upon the nominating petitions, whether original or supplemental, the date and time of submission and shall promptly certify the nominating petitions, in the order received, by determining and certifying on each nominating petition which of the signers who provided a residence address in the parish signed the nominating petition timely and are registered to vote on the office the candidate seeks. A supplemental nominating petition shall be certified in the order in which it is received, without regard to the time when the original nominating petition for that candidate was submitted. A registrar may stop certifying the signatures on a nominating petition when the total number of the signers he has certified as having signed the petition timely and as being registered to vote on the office the candidate seeks equals one hundred fifteen percent of the number of qualified voters required to nominate the candidate for the office he seeks. A registrar's certification shall be conclusive as to the number of qualified voters who timely signed a nominating petition, and evidence to the contrary shall not be admitted in an action objecting to the candidacy of the candidate who filed the nominating petition.

Acts 1976, No. 697, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1978. Amended by Acts 1977, No. 523, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1978; Acts 1978, No. 292, §1, eff. July 6, 1978; Acts 1979, No. 229, §1, eff. July 13, 1979; Acts 1988, No. 909, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1989; Acts 2008, No. 522, §1, eff. July 1, 2008; Acts 2009, No. 369, §1; Acts 2012, No. 138, §1, eff. May 14, 2012; Acts 2013, No. 383, §1, eff. June 18, 2013; Acts 2014, No. 60, §1, eff. May 16, 2014.