AG Landry: Free election day bus rides illegal

Claire Taylor | The Daily Advertiser

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Lafayette City-Parish Councilman Bruce Conque withdrew a resolution from Tuesday's agenda that would have provided free bus rides in the city of Lafayette on election days.

Conque said he spoke with Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry who concurred with city-parish attorneys' advice that free bus service is not legal.

"Jeff (Landry) ... said he considers it a violation of the Louisiana constitution and he would legally challenge it if we moved forward," Conque said.

Landry told The Daily Advertiser the Louisiana Secretary of State asked for advice on the matter, so Landry sent him a 1996 Attorney General opinion. That opinion said a school board could not use school buses to bring voters to election polls.

Even though the Lafayette buses would not directly bring riders to the polls, Landry said it is not allowed. The facts of the opinion may differ from the Lafayette case, he said, but the principle behind the conclusion is the same.

State government is prohibited from giving away something of value

"If they believe their facts are different and their facts support a different conclusion," Landry said, "they can ask us for an opinion."

Other states allow the practice, he said, but their state legislatures passed specific exemptions to allow it.

Landry said state law prohibits government from giving away something of value.

"The transportation system is not a free transportation system," he said. "It's owned by the public."

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Free bus service on Election Day is not going to increase voter participation, Landry said, and studies suggest the same.

"It opens the system up for fraud," he said.

Landry even questioned the legality of the city providing free bus transportation to encourage shopping. In 2017, the city waived bus fares on Black Friday and the next day to encourage local shopping.

Conque, upon the request of the League of Women Voters of Lafayette, was to offer a resolution at Tuesday's council meeting to provide free bus rides Nov. 6 and Dec. 8, which are election days. The buses would run their normal routes and would not deliver people to voting polls, he said.

Service only provided in the city

The proposal drew criticism from Lafayette Citizens Against Taxes, a Facebook group administered by Michael Lunsford, who is executive director of conservative advocacy group Citizens for a New Louisiana.

Lunsford and others called the proposal electioneering and said it was unfair because bus service is only provided in the city, not the entire parish.

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The League of Women Voters of Lafayette, on its Facebook page Tuesday, said the group "suggested this resolution as a way to remove barriers to participating in democracy."

At Tuesday's council meeting, League spokeswoman Alicia Chaisson read a statement, saying, "The proposal for free buses on election days is not a partisan issue. We want every single eligible voter to vote. We wish there was public transportation outside the city so that it could be offered for free as well. Neither the League nor the (city) are endorsing candidates or attempting to influence votes on taxes or amendments. We saw an opportunity to show Lafayette citizens that their local government encourages voter participation and understands that every vote matters."

The group is in touch with its state and national organizations regarding the issue, Chaisson added.

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