Early voters often brave long lines in order to cast their ballots ahead of election day, but a select few at Jefferson Parish's East Bank government headquarters managed to avoid the wait. They got to vote on a special machine inside a conference room in parish Registrar of Voters Dennis DiMarco's office, skipping the line.

Not any more.

That perk vanished Wednesday after a staff member in DiMarco's office let the attorney heading the campaign to recall embattled Parish President Mike Yenni use the machine on the first day of early voting this week, prompting the lawyer to report the situation to election officials.

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Louisiana Secretary of State Tom Schedler on Wednesday seized both the machine and the book containing the signatures of voters who had cast ballots on it. Neither will be released until officials begin tabulating early votes on Nov. 8.

Schedler said in a letter that his action was "necessary to preserve the transparency and integrity of early voting and to promote confidence within the general public regarding the voting process."

Schedler's office declined to elaborate Thursday, citing a pending investigation. However, the office said state law requires all voting machines inside polling places to be "in full view of the public" and accessible to any voter.

Asked about the machine in DiMarco's office, Schedler's staff said, "We have never heard of such a setup."

DiMarco said Thursday that the machine was provided for the first time this year as a convenience for people with certain occupations who need to get to work urgently but still want to exercise their right to vote early.

For example, he said, police officers, firefighters and military members in uniform would qualify, as would emergency surgeons.

He said early voting crowds have been much larger for this presidential election than in the past, and it fell within his discretion to find a way to shorten the wait for people whose time, "for lack of a better term, is more valuable than others'."

He estimated about 20 people used the machine.

"These are not my friends," said DiMarco, who was appointed parish registrar in 1998. "This was not an attempt to cast fraudulent votes or do something illegal."

Nonetheless, "out of an abundance of caution," DiMarco said he surrendered the machine after Schedler's office voiced concern.

He said he had no plans to provide such an accommodation again and believed organizers of the recall campaign against Yenni were merely trying to discredit him in the wake of a disagreement.

DiMarco and Robert Evans III, the recall campaign's chairman, animatedly argued Tuesday outside the parish government building in Elmwood over what distance people gathering signatures for the petition aimed at forcing Yenni out of office need to keep from voting locations.

Evans and his allies believe a 1995 state Supreme Court decision allows them to erect tables for their petition as close as 100 feet from voting locations. DiMarco counters that state legislation approved after the court decision is clear: The distance is 600 feet, and violators could face arrest.

+3 Metairie lawyer launches petition to oust embattled Mike Yenni from office Jefferson Parish President Mike Yenni has released a statement on the recall petition filed against him Wednesday morning. In it, he promised to respect the result, but reiterated his contention that the sexting allegations against him are a personal matter and restating that he is still capable of doing his job.

Parish officials are awaiting an opinion from the state Attorney General's Office on the controversy.

After arguing with DiMarco outside the parish building Tuesday, Evans said, he went inside and asked to meet with the registrar in an effort to resolve the dispute. But DiMarco was not available.

A staffer then asked Evans whether — since he was there — he wanted to cast an early vote on a special machine in a conference room next to the registrar's fifth-floor office.

Evans said he did, was escorted to the machine and cast his ballot.

Saying he was stunned, he soon reported his experience to U.S. Attorney Kenneth Polite's office, which notified the Secretary of State's Office.

Evans went back Wednesday and again attempted to meet with DiMarco. But the registrar again wasn't available, so — to help authorities investigate — Evans said he snapped photos of the voting booth's location and got the name of the staffer who had assisted him.

"It didn't seem normal at all," said Evans, noting that the machine did not appear to be accessible to people who are physically handicapped. "It seemed like this was something special and different."

He continued, "When his staff is gone, this machine is behind closed doors, and it can be used at his discretion. He can cast votes for anybody. And his staff said they had been doing this for years."

DiMarco — who said the machine was newly installed this year — insisted that all votes cast on the machine complied with protocol and that he wasn't aware of any prohibition against such an accommodation.

"It in no way affects the integrity of the election process," DiMarco said.

The machine and signature book are now secured at a voting warehouse in West Jefferson. Officials said the names in that book weren't immediately available.

Yenni's administration is mired in scandal following a report that he is under investigation for sending sexually explicit text messages to a teenage boy. He has refused demands for his resignation from nearly every elected parish official.

Evans filed the recall petition a few days after Yenni admitted to sending inappropriate texts. The petition needs signatures from more than 90,000 of Jefferson Parish's approximately 270,000 registered voters by early April to call an election that could force Yenni from office.

The recall campaign says it has gathered more than 14,000 signatures.