On Friday, October 30, 2015, Jackson Jones filed a letter which was interpreted by the 10th Judicial District Court as being a petition to contest the election held on October 24th. On Monday, November 2nd, Mr. Jones filed a “petition” which the Court interpreted as an Amending Petition. The Petition contained the allegation that Jackson Jones would have won the election had it not been for the voting irregularities that occurred on Election Day due to power outages at three polling locations. In order for Jackson Jones to have won the election, he would have needed an additional 7,585 votes related to irregularities. There were a total number of 916 votes cast at the three polling places that experienced power outages.
| St. Anthony Church
Precinct 1/1 |
Total Voters
777 |
Voter turnout on
October 24th – 171 |
Victor Jones – 154
Jackson Jones – 17 |
| St. Anthony Church
Precinct 1/1A |
Total Voters
353 |
Voter turnout on
October 24th – 92 |
Victor Jones – 78
Jackson Jones – 14 |
| Media Center
Precinct 1/11 |
Total Voters
1665 |
Voter turnout on
October 24th – 453 |
Victor Jones – 413
Jackson Jones – 40 |
| Fairview School
Precinct 2/9 |
Total Voters
739 |
Voter turnout on
October 24th – 200 |
Victor Jones – 171
Jackson Jones – 29 |
Among the allegations in Jackson Jones’ letter/petition was that the electricity was off at several polling places resulting in the disenfranchisement of minority voters even though the voting machines are all battery operated and therefore voting never stopped. Jackson Jones also alleged the Clerk of Court would not give him the results of early voting before 8:00 p.m. on Election Day. That is true, but that is also what the law requires.
In accordance with the Louisiana Election Code, a hearing must be held by 10:00 a.m. on the 4th day following filing of a petition. Jackson Jones requested the Clerk’s office send his Notice to his P.O. Box. The Sheriff’s office made attempts to make personal service on Jackson Jones, but they were unable to locate him between Tuesday and Friday. Jackson Jones failed to appear for the hearing, which was held on Friday morning, November 6th. At the hearing, it was ruled that even if Jackson Jones had gotten all of the votes cast in the three precincts in question, he still would not have won the election. The Defendants have asked the Court to hold the record open to allow its attorneys time to file a Motion for court costs, damages and attorney fees for filing a frivolous petition. That request was granted. A lot of expense and inconvenience resulted from Jackson Jones’ suit. Due to the lawsuit, Natchitoches Parish Registrar of Voters, Debbie Waskom, could not clear the absentee voting machines used in connection with the October 24th election, and since early voting for the run-off election was set to begin on November 7th, the State had to send new machines at considerable expense.
See Original NPJ Story and documents here: FULL PETITION & SETTING