STATE OF LOUISIANA
DEPARTMENT OF STATE CIVIL SERVICE
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA

General Circular No. 001591 

To:                   Heads of State Agencies and Human Resource Directors 

Subject:            Election of Employee Member of State Civil Service Commission 

Issue Date:       November 22, 2004

The term of the present elected employee member of the State Civil Service Commission will expire on April 30, 2005.  Revised Statute 42: 1351 et seq. provides for the election process to fill this office.   Administrative procedures are provided in the Louisiana Administrative Code (LAC 40: XXVII. 101). 

The classified employee member of the State Civil Service Commission shall be a full time, permanent employee in the classified state service for a period of one year prior to the date on which he qualifies as a candidate.  The term is for six years, which will commence on May 1, 2005. 

In accordance with state law, the call for this election will be issued effective January 3, 2005.  Nomination as a candidate for the office of employee member of the Commission shall be by petition of at least one hundred (100) permanent employees in the state classified service.  The petition shall be filed with the Director of the Department of State Civil Service not later than close of business, January 12, 2005.  Nomination petitions will not be accepted prior to January 3, 2005.  The official business hours of the Department of State Civil Service conclude at 4:30 p.m. each working day.  Any challenge to the eligibility of a candidate must be done in accordance with State election law.

Eligible voters will consist of classified state employees with permanent status as of close of business on December 4, 2004. 

Persons wishing to become a candidate must submit a nominating petition during the filing period, which begins Monday, January 3, 2005 and goes through close of business Wednesday, January 12, 2005.    

Blank nomination petition forms may be downloaded from our website at www.civilservice.louisiana.gov or may be requested by contacting the Election Coordinator by e-mail: max.reichert@la.gov or by writing to Max Reichert, Commission Election Coordinator, Department of State Civil Service, P. O. Box 94111, Capitol Station, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9111. 

Although the law requires only 100 signatures of permanent classified employees, it is suggested that applicants for candidacy secure more than 100 because the verification process may reveal that some signatories are not permanent classified state employees.  We suggest at least 125 signatures be secured. 

Applicants who have submitted nomination petitions will be notified by mail whether they have been qualified as a candidate.  An attempt will also be made to telephone them at the phone numbers provided in the candidate information section of the nomination petition.   

Completed nomination petitions may be hand delivered, mailed or faxed.   

Hand deliver completed nomination petitions during normal business hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday to 

Department of Civil Service
Claiborne Building, 1201 North Third Street
Third floor, Room 3-280. 

OR

Mail completed nomination petitions to  

Max Reichert, Commission Election Coordinator
Department of State Civil Service
P. O. Box 94111, Capitol Station
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9111    

If petitions are mailed, they must be physically received at the Department of Civil Service by close of business January 12, 2005.  Postmarks are not acceptable for receipt date verification.    

OR 

Fax completed nomination petitions  to  Max Reichert, Election Coordinator at 225-219-0151.   

Applicants must also submit by close of business January 12, 2005 the biographical information they wish to have included in the election brochure accompanying the ballot if they qualify as a candidate.  Biographical information must be submitted to Department of Civil Service no earlier than January 3, 2005 and no later than close of business January 12, 2005.  It must be physically received by close of business January 12, 2005. Postmarks are not acceptable for receipt date verification.   Qualified candidates who do not submit biographical information by the deadline will have their names appear on the ballot with no accompanying biographical information. 

The biographical information will be limited to their name as they wish it to appear on the ballot plus 1500 characters.  It should be submitted as a Microsoft Word document either as an e-mail attachment or a diskette or CD and must be in paragraph format (no bullet points or lists). Civil Service will not change the wording of any biographical information submitted but may change the font, font size, bolding, etc., in order to standardize the format and amount of space given to each candidate. 

Applicants may submit the biographical information with their nomination petition or later.  However, such information will not be accepted prior to January 3, 2005 or later than close of business January 12, 2005.  If delivering or mailing a diskette / CD, the diskette / CD should be labeled with the words “Elected Commissioner Candidate Biographical Info” and the candidate’s name.  A printed version of the contents should also be sent with the diskette / CD.   

Diskettes / CD’s may be sent by mail or hand delivered to the same addresses listed above for the nomination petitions.  Biographical information sent as an e-mail attachment should be sent to the Election Coordinator at max.reichert@la.gov.  The biographical information may not be faxed.   

The Department of Civil Service has contracted with a vendor, Voice Retrieval and Information Services, Inc., to conduct the election.  They will mail ballots directly to eligible voters at the mailing addresses reported by agency appointing authorities as of December 4, 2004.  Ballots will be mailed no later than February 7, 2004.  Instructions for voting and the biographical information for all candidates will be included with each ballot.  Voting may be accomplished by mailing back the completed paper ballot or by telephone or Internet using instructions provided with the ballot.  Each ballot will have a unique PIN number to identify each voter, and this will be checked as ballots are received to ensure no one votes more than once and that the person casting the vote is a bona fide voter.  The final date to cast a vote by telephone or Internet will be 5:00 p.m. February 24, 2005.  All paper ballots must be physically received by the vendor by close of business February 24, 2005 to be included in the tabulation.  Postmarks are not acceptable for receipt date verification.   The vendor will collect and tabulate all votes and provide certified results to the Director of Civil Service within five days of the close of voting, i.e., no later than March 1, 2005.  In the event that no candidate receives at least thirty-five percent of the votes cast in the election, there will be a runoff election between the two candidates with the highest numbers of votes.  

Additional information for candidates may be found under “Information for Candidates for Employee Member of State Civil Service Commission” on our web site at www.civilservice.louisiana.gov.  Questions about the election should be directed to Max Reichert, Commission Election Coordinator, Department of State Civil Service, P. O. Box 94111, Capitol Station, Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9111; e-mail: max.reichert@la.gov; phone: 225-342-8541.

 Sincerely, 

s/ Allen H. Reynolds
Director