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Tangipahoa registrar identifies 13 voter registration challenges for investigation; will hand them over to Secretary of State

2 hours 44 minutes 32 seconds ago Wednesday, November 06 2024 Nov 6, 2024 November 06, 2024 5:58 PM November 06, 2024 in News
Source: WBRZ

AMITE — The Tangipahoa Parish Registrar of Voters said Wednesday that after examining more than 50 claims that voters were registered at an address that doesn't reflect where they actually live, 13 of those claims are under investigation.

Amite mayoral candidate Ayana Buchanan filed the challenges and provided a list of voters she said were improperly registered. Some listed addresses that were not homes. Instead, voters claimed to live at a doctor's office, a tobacco store or a fire station.

Buchanan did not make the runoff for Amite mayor in Tuesday's voting.

Walter Daniels III got 42 percent of the 1,544 votes cast. Damon Ellzey got 31 percent, putting the two men in the runoff. Buchanan got 25 percent.

Buchanan finished far enough behind that the votes she challenged would not have changed the outcome of the race. She finished with 383 votes and Ellzey had 476, a difference of 93 votes.

According to the Tangipahoa registrar's office, most of the challenges were not considered because the people listed had not voted early. The registrar's office examines complaints about people who vote early or absentee, but does not handle complaints about people who vote on Election Day.

The registrar's office said 13 of the challenges were accepted and will be turned over to the Secretary of State's office for further investigation.

The WBRZ Investigative Unit obtained the full list of challenged residents and cross-referenced names with associated addresses.

In several instances, the voter had a homestead exemption somewhere in Tangipahoa Parish, but not in Amite, which would mean they couldn't vote for the mayor of Amite.

According to the registrar's office, some voters don't know that the law requires them to change the address on their voter registration when they move. Voters are not permitted to list business addresses as home addresses on their voter registration.

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