Circle the Date

Or at least have a pencil handy to make sure that you can keep up with the changing dates for New Orleans' elections for mayor and city council.

U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle appeared to endorse the April date, and he warned that if the state has not set a date by next week, he's prepared to order an election on that schedule.

April 22, which Ater proposed during a hearing in Lemelle's court on a lawsuit seeking to get the vote scheduled as soon as possible, would be 11 weeks after Feb. 4, the date originally set for the primary. Blanco postponed the election indefinitely last month in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Under the likely new schedule, qualifying would take place March 1-3 and runoffs would be held May 20, Ater said. That means new officials might be able to take office in early June, five or six weeks after the May 1 inauguration date specified in the City Charter.

The hearing in Lemelle's court was on a lawsuit filed by several New Orleans voters seeking to have the primary election held as early as March 25.

Ater told Lemelle that he will recommend to Blanco that she call the elections for April 22 and May 20, provided that the City Council and legislative committees approve a much-revised list of new polling places by Monday, as expected.

Do you hear that sound? That's the sound of democracy being trampled by the incumbents trying to hold on to their jobs for at least a little while longer. Blanco and Nagin had tried to postpone the elections for as long as possible because they were hoping to get enough of their supporters back in town to make sure that the outcome was to their liking. Problem is, their supporters are few and far between given their failures at every turn. Blanco is even facing a recall proposition.

Hopefully Whiplash Nagin will be given the boot and someone who is untainted by scandal, incompetence, and asinine statements can come to New Orleans' rescue.