Responsibility.

2814. [Sec. 5.] The ex-officio Registrar of Voters shall assume and be charged with full responsibility for the integrity and acts of the clerks selected and employed by him, and in the event that either the ex-officio Registrar or clerk be charged and convicted of falsifying or destroying any of the records of his office, or falsely or illegally registering, or refusing to register, any person, or failing to perform any of the duties imposed upon him by law, he shall be subject to a fine not exceeding One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), and imprisonment, with or without hard labor, not to exceed one year.

New Registration Office; Office Hours.

2815. [Sec. 22, Act 98, 1908, p. 146.] The Registrars of Voters for each and every parish throughout the State, the Parish of Orleans excepted, shall beginning January 2, 1909, make a new and complete registration of all the legal voters in their respective parishes; he shall at all times keep his office open daily, Sundays and legal holidays excepted, from eight o'clock a. m. until one o'clock p. m. and from two o'clock p. m. until six o'clock p. m. for the registration of all legal voters. He shall keep his office at the court house. In every year in which a general State election is held or a primary election is held for State officers or representatives to the Congress of the United States he shall sixty days before the closing of the registration, establish his office, for at least one day, at or near each polling place; during the last two weeks of such period, if two weeks of the period remain after the holding of his office for one day at or near each polling place he shall keep his office at the court house. He shall during said sixty days publish at the expense of the parish, in the official journal thereof, if there be one, a list of the places of registration and the length of time same shall remain open, provided that no person shall be permitted to register within thirty days of any general or primary election held in this State.

The Registrar must keep his office at the courthouse, Smith vs. Registrar, 127 La. 372.

Books of Registration.

2816. [Sec. 23.] The books of registration of all the parishes of this State, the Parish of Orleans excepted, shall consist of one precinct register, consecutively numbered from one to the end and the permanent registration containing the names of persons registered under Section 5 of Article 197 of the Consti

tution of 1898, and the laws carrying same into effect. That the precinct register shall show and contain; the date of registration, the name of the voter, his residence, age, color, occupation, where born, name of householder, time of residence in the State, parish, ward and precinct, oath of registration, party affiliation and remarks. The applicant for registration shall sign the oath of registration as herein provided.

WHOLE STATE.

Duplicate Certificates.

2817. [Sec. 6, Act 98, 1908, p. 142.] Duplicate certificates of registration shall be issued to persons whose original certificates have been lost or destroyed, provided the name of the person applying for such duplicate precinct certificate is found on the register, and same has not been cancelled for any cause, after he shall have subscribed to the following oath: "I do solemnly swear or affirm that I have been duly registered and my original certificate of registration has been lost or destroyed, so help me God."

Said oath shall be printed on the back of said duplicate certificate of registration. The duplicate shall bear the same number as the original, and in other respects shall be the same, except that they shall be printed on paper of different color; the word "Duplicate" shall be printed thereon; the clerk or Registrar of Voters issuing same shall mark the letter "D" in red ink to the left of the original number on the precinct register. He shall also mark the letter "D" on the original stub in red ink.

Names of Fraudulent Voters to be Published.

2818. [Sec. 9.] Whenever the Registrar of Voters has reason to believe that any name or names upon the books of registration are illegally or fraudulently placed thereon he shall publish such names in the official journal of, and at the expense of the Parish, and the Registrar of Voters shall cancel such names unless the parties whose names have been published, prove their identity or right to be registered by the affidavit of two bona fide citizens who shall appear before the Registrar of Voters or his clerks at the registration office and make said affidavit within five days after the publication, he will cause such name or names to be erased from the books of registration, noting the reasons therefor in the column of remarks in the precinct register provided that any person who has attempted to prove his identity or

right to be registered and has been erased shall have power to appeal to any court in said parish without cost, enjoining the Registrar to reinstate his name, and from the decision of the court either party shall have the right to appeal to the Supreme Court without bond or costs, and said appeal shall be tried in a summary manner and by preference. (Amd. Act 242, 1914, p. 474.)

Removal From Precinct to Precinct.

2819. [Sec. 10.] Any voter moving from one election precinct in a parish to another election precinct in the same parish, shall by making affidavit before the Registrar of Voters of such removal and residence in such new precinct for a period of at least six months, have the entry on the books of registration changed so as to correspond with his new residence and in the Parish of Orleans a new certificate of registration shall be issued to him accordingly.

Forcing Registrar to Register Voter.

2820. [Sec. 12.] Should the Registrar of Voters refuse to register any qualified elector, as herein provided for, such elector may proceed by action in any court of competent jurisdiction to compel such certificate to be issued, or registration to be made.

Such cause shall be tried in a summary manner and without cost, with right to appeal to the Supreme Court without bond and said appeal shall be tried in a summary manner and by preference.

Forcing Registrar to Erase.

2821. [Sec. 13.] Any person may proceed by action in any court to compel the Registrar of Voters to cancel any entry made illegally upon any book of registration, or that ought to be cancelled by reason of the facts that have occurred subsequently to the time of such entry. But if the party whose name is sought to be cancelled be not made a party to the action, the court shall order him to be made a party defendant and the Registrar of Voters shall be notified to show cause why such erasure should not be made; said cause to be tried without delay or costs.

That costs may be recovered against the Registrar of Voters when it is established on the trial that he knowingly and willfully violated a plain duty, but not otherwise.

Suit to cancel names from rolls is without cost, Ballard vs. Puleston, 113 La. 235; State ex rel. Bowden vs. Fontenot, 132 La. 481.

Removals and Deaths.

2822. [Sec. 25.] The Registrar of Voters of each parish shall within thirty days next preceding an election strike from the registration the names of all voters who may have died, left the precinct or from any cause become ineligible as electors; provided that the name of no voter shall be stricken from the list of registration in any parish who has left said precinct within six months of the time for holding the election, so that the elector shall not lost his right to vote in one precinct before he has acquired the right to vote in another. The Registrars of Voters shall not place upon the poll list, which he is required by law to furnish for the use of the commissioners of election, any name which has been stricken from the registration books as provided in this Act.

"The elector shall not lose his right to vote in one precinct before he has acquired the right to vote in another," is unconstitutional, State ex rel. Woods vs. Registrar, 124 La. 847.

Books Are Open for Inspection.

2823. [Sec. 27.] The books, papers and records of the Registrars of Voters for the Parish of Orleans and the books, papers and records in the offices of each Registrar of Voters for each and every parish throughout the State shall at all times be open to inspection by the public and copies of the same may be procured, provided same does not interfere with the registration.

Applications for registration are public documents and open to inspection, Smith vs. Registrar, 127 La. 372.

Registering Party Affiliation.

2824. [Sec. 28.] In order that none but those affiliating with and being members of any political party shall participate in any primary election held by any political party, it shall be the duty of the Registrar of Voters of the various parishes throughout the State to provide an additional space on the regular State registration books immediately following the last perpendicular ruled column in such books, which space shall be headed "Party Affiliation," it shall be the duty of the Registrar of Voters to ask each applicant for registration the question "What political party do you desire to affiliate with?" and the name of the political party so given by such person so applying to be registered shall be recorded in the column provided on the books of registration. The Registrar of Voters being hereby required to furnish proper blank forms for signature by the applicant for that purpose.

In case any person desiring to be registered does not desire to state his party affiliation, he shall not be required so to do, nor

shall his failure so to do act as a bar to his registration for the purpose of voting in any election held under the provisions of the general election law; that the Registrars of Voters in each and every parish of this State shall three days before the date of any election held by any political party deliver to the several parish committees throughout the State certified copies of all persons who have declared their party affiliation and registered as members of said party as provided for in this section. The said certified copies herein provided for to be delivered to the several parish committees shall be by them transmitted to the respective commissioners of election and shall be a list of the persons entitled to vote in any primary election held by said political party, provided that the persons appearing to be so registered shall possess all other necessary qualifications required of the electors by the Constitution of this State.

Provided further that any person shall have the privilege of changing his party affiliation by applying to the Registrar of Voters requesting that same be done six months prior to any primary election held by any political party.

Educational Qualification.

2825. [Sec. 29.] The applicant for registration, throughout the State, shall be able to read and write and shall demonstrate his ability to do so when he applies for registration by making, under oath administered by the registration officer or his clerks or deputy, written application therefor in the English language or in his mother tongue, which application shall contain the essential facts necessary to show that he is entitled to register and vote and shall be entirely written, dated and signed by him in the presence of the registration officer or his deputy, without assistance or suggestion from any person or any memorandum whatever, except the form of application hereinafter set forth; provided that if the applicant be unable to write his application in the English language he shall have the right if he so demands to write the same in his mother tongue from the dictation of an interpreter and if he, the applicant, is unable to write his application by any reason of physical disability, the same shall be written at his dictation by the registration officer or his deputy, upon the applicant's oath of such disability. The application above provided for shall be a copy of the following form with the proper names, dates and numbers substituted for the blanks appearing therein: