Baton Rouge, La. – New Orleans’ Feb. 4 elections for mayor and City Council should be postponed for up to eight months because of the damage and dislocation caused by Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana’s top elections official said Friday.
Secretary of State Al Ater said polling places have not been rebuilt and hundreds of thousands of voters remain scattered across the country.
Ater said he needs to ensure that poll workers are in place and polling places and absentee voting systems are ready for an election he called “the most important in that city’s life.”
“The new administration, the new council, the new people that will be elected will be in charge of making decisions affecting billions and billions and billions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of lives,” Ater said.
Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco has the final say on whether the elections should be postponed. She was not immediately available for comment Friday but has said she will follow Ater’s advice.
He said the election should be held no later than Sept. 30.
The highest profile race is for mayor. Incumbent C. Ray Nagin, who has received both criticism and praise for his handling of the Katrina disaster, has not formally announced whether he will seek re-election but is expected to do so.
Nagin released a statement Friday saying he had hoped for February elections because “voting during our regular cycle would further bring a sense of normalcy and empowerment to our citizens. However, I respect the secretary of state’s decision as I am sure it is based upon his concern for holding a fair election.”
Races for the City Council and sheriff are also on the ballot.
Officials expect a huge increase in the number of absentee voters because so many of the city’s 273,000 registered voters have moved elsewhere.
Ater laid much of the blame for the delay on the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which he said has not provided any of the $2 million his office requested to repair voting machines damaged in the Aug. 29 storm and to upgrade New Orleans’ absentee voting system.
