A report by the Louisiana secretary of state’s office on the use of a Jefferson Parish voting machine reserved for “VIPs” has been turned over to the district attorney’s office. The state office would not release the findings of its election compliance unit on Tuesday (Nov. 29), however, citing a Louisiana law that shields “records pertaining to pending criminal litigation or any criminal litigation which can be reasonably anticipated” until the case is closed. The machine had been kept in a private conference room at Registrar of Voters Dennis DiMarco’s office in Elmwood during the early voting period leading to the Nov. 8 elections. It was not available to the general public. DiMarco said he and some of his staff let certain people use it to avoid waiting in line.
The secretary of state’s office seized the machine Oct. 27. DiMarco said Tuesday it was returned to his office Nov. 7 in order to have its votes added to Jefferson’s overall turnout.
DiMarco said there were “no improprieties” involved in using the machine and that the actions of the secretary of state’s office suggest there was “nothing found in error.” “Everyone who voted was a registered voter checked by my staff,” DiMarco said. “Everything balanced at the end.” In October, DiMarco said the VIP machine “may have” been used “a few times before but only for very large elections like the presidential elections.” The district attorney’s office had no comment on the case.
Full Article: Investigation of Jefferson Parish ‘VIP’ voting machine now in DA’s hands | NOLA.com.