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A2 UP FRONT
Friday 24 November 2023

More than 43,000 people went to the polls for a Louisiana election.

A candidate won by 1 vote

Continued from Front in-person voter in Georgia,
prints a paper ballot with a
When the recount takes human-readable summary
place Monday only ab- and a QR code, a type of
sentee ballots will be tal- barcode, that is read by a
lied again and checked scanner to count the votes.
for errors. But they only “Can you imagine what
account for about 17% of would have happened in
the total vote in the runoff Georgia if they had still had
race. Absentee ballots are digital voting machines in
mailed in and are the only 2020?” Becker asked.
auditable paper trail under While Louisiana is seen as
Louisiana’s current voting a reliably red state and
system. not perceived as a swing
When it comes to the in- state in presidential races,
person votes, which are election officials across the
paperless, a recount would board have agreed that
be similar to hitting a refresh it is past time for new ma-
button. chines.
“(Election officials) test the “It is important to be able
machines beforehand and to show your work and it
they test the machines af- is important, for people’s
terwards, so it’s not blind confidence in the system,
faith going into this. ... There to know that there’s a
are protections in place,” check against the system,”
David Becker, a former at- Becker said.
torney in the Justice De- Louisiana has tried to re-
partment’s Civil Rights Henry Whitehorn Sr., candidate for Caddo Parish Sheriff, speaks during a forum held by the place the current machines
Division who works with Broadmoor Neighborhood Association at Broadmoor Presbyterian Church in Shreveport, La., for the past five years. But
election officials through Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. the ongoing process was
the nonprofit Center for (Jill Pickett/The Advocate via AP) delayed after allegations
Election Innovation & Re- where they are still used March. Nearby in Georgia, elec- that the bidding process
search said. “That said, a statewide. However, the machines tion officials recertified the was rigged.
recount of a paperless vote Election officials, includ- and their lack of a paper state’s presidential elec- Secretary of State-elect
is essentially the equivalent ing Louisiana’s Secretary trail, have been a frequent tion results after a recount Nancy Landry, a Repub-
of hitting the button again. of State Kyle Ardoin, have target of criticism. of the roughly 5 million bal- lican who takes office in
... You’re basically getting reiterated that the state’s The ability to recount bal- lots cast was requested by January, said implement-
a report on the tabulation elections are secure and lots proved important in Donald Trump. Georgia, ing a new voting system is a
again.” there are checks and bal- the 2020 election when which for two decades top priority. However, given
Louisiana uses paperless ances in place to ensure many battleground states had used paperless voting the extensive bidding proc-
touch screen voting ma- election integrity. Addition- — including Arizona, Penn- machines similar to Louisi- ess and trainings, she said
chines bought in 2005. ally, the state has received sylvania and Wisconsin ana’s, purchased a new new machines will not be
Once the most modern high marks for its election — conducted recounts or system shortly before the in place ahead of the 2024
voting technology, today procedures, including from thorough reviews of the election. The current sys- presidential election.q
Louisiana is the only place the legislative auditor in election results. tem, used by virtually every

A Las Vegas high school grapples with

how a feud over stolen items escalated

into a fatal beating

learned what happened — Adding to the devastation extends beyond the young
a student who was stand- is that cellphone video of man’s family,” said psy-
ing up for a friend was put the beating was widely chology teacher Isaac Bar-
on life support after being shared across social me- ron, a councilman in neigh-
brutally beaten by 10 of his dia. boring North Las Vegas.
peers in a nearby alley. In the following weeks, a “It’s going to run deep, and
A memorial for Jonathan Lewis Jr. is set up in an alleyway near It was a devastating epi- small memorial sprung up there’s no magic wand to
Rancho High School in eastern Las Vegas, on Tuesday, Nov. 21, sode for Rancho High in the trash-littered alley solve this.”
2023. (AP Photo/Ty O'Neil) School, a predominantly bordered by apartment Police and prosecutors say
By Rio Yamat was needed near one of minority campus in east buildings and a sober liv- nine of the 10 teenage
Associated Press the classrooms. Las Vegas. Some students ing home. Students, teach- students who took part in
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Students A nurse ran in the direction walked out of class when ers and staff were left to the beating have been ar-
at a Las Vegas high school of the emergency. A group they heard Jonathan Lew- grapple with how a con- rested. Four were formally
had gone home for the of teachers tried to per- is Jr., 17, wouldn't survive flict over a stolen vape pen charged Tuesday as adults
day when an urgent mes- form CPR. It wasn't until the head trauma and other and a pair of wireless head- with second-degree mur-
sage was broadcast from next day that social stud- injuries he suffered in the phones escalated. der while the other students
the intercom: A defibrillator ies teacher Reuben D'Silva Nov. 1 attack, D'Silva said. “The trauma, quite frankly, await separate hearings. q