Judge denies petition Shreveport City Council hopeful filed challenging election

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) — It’s a lawsuit requesting, in part, that elections be re-held in the City of Shreveport.

But in the end, a district judge squashed any hopes of that happening.

The lawsuit was filed by one-time City Council District B candidate, James Carstensen.

He says he has talked with numerous deserving citizens who said they were not allowed to vote in the District B council race after redistricting.

His lawsuit alleged that:

• the votes in the election for District B were very close and not determined until Nov. 9, a day after the election;
• the redistricting maps that were used were not the ones approved by city engineers; and,
• there were irregularities with the voting machines.

Yet his lawsuit was tossed, in essence, on a legal technicality.

The judge says the allegations listed in Carstensen’s petition to the court about voting machine irregularities and incorrect redistricting maps didn’t meet court standards and lacked required details.

On Monday, the courtroom was packed with people in the community hoping their voice would be heard through this case. Some people were saddened to see how things turned out, especially since early voting soon will start.

One voter still is disappointed with what happened on election night.

“The citizens were not heard,” Brenda O’Brock said. “And there were many grievances about this election because people were thrust into the parish outside the city. And they don’t know whether to pay their city taxes because their rights were taken away to vote for mayor and city council. So this is an issue that is really just bringing to light the disparities in the voting election.”

Carstensen and his lawyer have 24 hours to file an appeal.

His lawyer, Patricia Gilley, told KSLA News 12 that they most likely will not appeal because there’s not much they can do at this point.

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