Title: LOUISIANA’S ELECTIONS CANNOT BE AUDITED
Original CoS Document (slug): louisiana-s-elections-cannot-be-audited
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Created: 2024-09-09 08:19:23
Updated: 2024-09-16 03:00:00
Published: 2024-09-09 01:00:00
Converted: 2025-04-14T21:32:55.721778064
You may be surprised to know that LOUISIANA’S ELECTIONS CANNOT BE AUDITED.
Why? Because there is no auditable paper trail for Louisiana voters to know their vote has been counted. It’s not just us saying this- the Louisiana Legislative Auditor said the same thing in a 2022 report. This also means Louisiana is the only state in the USA which cannot audit the vote. The voting computers source codes are proprietary and confidential on those voting “machines” used in early voting and election day voting, so no election official can prove that what the voter tapped on the ballot on the front is the same as the tape which spits out the back of the “machine”.
The only paper ballots used in Louisiana elections are the so-called “absentee” ballots, a bit of a misnomer since you don’t have to be “absent” to qualify for such a ballot.
Convention of States Action Louisiana is doing taking two steps to push for auditable paper ballots:
1. Letter to Governor Jeff Landry - COSA Louisiana has joined with 13 other Louisiana citizen organizations to send an August 30, 2024 letter to Governor Landry urging that he use the state’s cybersecurity emergency authorization to prepare for The November 2024 elections.
That letter describes how our elections “are unequivocally vulnerable to catastrophic cyber threats”. As the letter says, the solution is straightforward: simply utilize the applicable portions of the current absentee ballot system and print more ballots for in-person voting.
2. Encourage “absentee” voting - Since only paper ballots can be audited and the only paper ballot available in Louisiana is the “absentee” ballot, COSA Louisiana is telling everyone (eligible) to order an absentee ballot. This tells election officials that Louisiana citizens want to have auditable elections.