Christopher Tape recall, St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana (2024)
| Christopher Tape recall |
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| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| Signature requirement |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2024 Recalls in Louisiana Louisiana recall laws County official recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall St. Tammany Parish Coroner Christopher Tape was initiated in 2024 but did not go to a vote after recall organizers failed to collect a sufficient number of signatures by the October 15, 2024 deadline.[2]
Recall organizers officially filed the recall petition with the Louisiana Secretary of State's office on April 16, 2024. They had 180 days to collect 35,057 signatures in order to get the recall on the ballot.[2]
Recall supporters
Recall supporters cited reports that Tape had been indicted on six counts of child sexual assault in New Mexico. The charges against Tape were dropped when a court later ruled that prosecutors had taken too long to formally file the charges. Additionally, Tape had come under criticism after he decided to end the sexual assault nurse examiner program. The program, which is run out of the St. Tammany Parish coroner's office, employed nurses who were trained to "provide medical treatment and evidence collection services to survivors of sexual assault in a five-parish region."[1]
In the recall petition, recall supporters listed the following grounds for Tape's recall:[3]
| “ |
Unfit to hold office. [4] |
” |
Recall opponents
In response to the recall petition, Tape said he respects "the right of the people to do that. "He added that he believed "the voters will be satisfied" if he is "given the opportunity to do the job (he's) been elected to do."[1] Tape has maintained his innocence regarding the past child sexual assault charges, saying: "I don’t know what people want me to do. It’s innocent until proven guilty."[3]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in Louisiana
No specific grounds are required for recall in Louisiana. The recall process starts by filing a copy of the recall petition with the Louisiana Secretary of State. The number of signatures required on the petition depends on the size of the jurisdiction, with the smallest jurisdictions (fewer than 1,000 eligible voters) requiring signatures equal to 40% of eligible voters in the jurisdiction and the largest jurisdictions (100,000 or more eligible voters) requiring signatures equal to 20% of eligible voters in the jurisdiction.[5] Recall supporters have 180 days to circulate petitions.[6]
See also
- St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana
- Recall campaigns in Louisiana
- Political recall efforts, 2024
- County official recalls
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- St. Tammany Parish Parish Coroner's Office
- St. Tammany Parish Clerk of Court
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Nola.com, "Recall petition against St. Tammany Parish Coroner Christopher Tape formally filed," April 16, 2024
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Nola.com, "The effort to recall St. Tammany's controversial coroner has failed, its organizers say," October 11, 2024
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Fox 8, "Recall petition filed against St. Tammany coroner Christopher Tape," April 16, 2024
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Louisiana State Legislature, "House Bill 54," accessed February 5, 2019
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Recall an Elected Official," accessed February 17, 2023
