Caddo Parish, Louisiana – It turns out that voting can make a difference even when you are dead. This is especially the case if there is no paper trail ensuring election results are accurate.
Democrat Henry Whitehorn and Republican John Nickelson faced off in a November 18 election to determine who would become the next Caddo Parish sheriff. The final results showed the candidates separated by just a single vote out of more than 43,000 cast and Whitehorn was declared the winner.
Nicholson rightfully requested a recount to respect the “will of the people.”
This extraordinarily narrow margin absolutely requires a hand recount to protect the integrity of our democratic process, and to ensure we respect the will of the people.
Nicholson noted there were multiple irregularities that accounted for the final result, including dead voters being counted and people who voted twice:
We know that at least two voters voted twice, and that the votes of at least five people who were deceased as of Election Day were counted
‼️LOUISIANA RECOUNT‼️
Did you know that the Caddo Parish sheriff election was decided by 1 vote?
Henry Whitehorn (D) received 21,621 votes to John Nickleson’s (R) 21,620.
While more than 43,000 votes were cast, only around 7,700 mail-in ballots will be rescanned.
LA’s…
— #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) November 26, 2023
But as the Associated Press notes, Louisiana law only permits absentee ballots to be tallied again and checked for errors. Absentee ballots are the only auditable paper trail under Louisiana’s current voting system and represented only 17% of the total vote in the runoff race.
Yes, the Pelican State has NO WAY of ensuring an accurate vote count for in-person ballots. They instead blindly rely on faulty electronic voting machines bought back in 2005 which do not produce a paper trail.
The AP reported:
The tight race shines a spotlight on Louisiana’s recount process and its outdated voting machines, which do not produce an auditable paper trail that experts say is critical to ensuring election results are accurate.
Louisiana uses paperless touch screen voting machines bought in 2005. Once the most modern voting technology, today Louisiana is the only place where they are still used statewide.
The Gateway Pundit has extensively reported on how faulty voting machines can alter election results. The most glaring example of this is Georgia during the 2020 Presidential election.
Earlier this month, votes were flipped in Pennsylvania in the Democrats’ favor across several counties thanks to a supposed “coding error” in the voting machines there.
A recount of mail-in ballots Monday affirmed Whitehorn’s “victory” by the exact same one-vote margin. According to the Louisiana Illuminator, Whitehorn and Nickelson both picked up three votes each in the recount.
Nicholson responded by filing a lawsuit later that day demanding Caddo District Court to declare a winner or order a new runoff election. KSLA reports the petition is set to be heard at 9:30 a.m. Thursday (Nov. 30) by Caddo District Judge Ramon Lafitte. A ruling could come as soon as that day or the next.
KSLA notes if the district court’s ruling is appealed, the case will be then be heard by the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal. If the appellate court’s opinion is appealed, the case would advance to the Louisiana Supreme Court but no further.
