Election integrity adding momentum to calls for veto override session

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Lawmakers have until July 15 to submit their votes on whether to have a veto override session later in the month and one new topic of discussion is just adding momentum for those who want to see one happen.

We’ve heard a lot about two bills Gov. John Bel Edwards already vetoed, one of which would restrict biological males from competing in female sports. The other is the permit-less carry bill.

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But there’s also growing frustration among Republican lawmakers. Edwards has vetoed 28 bills from the most recent session. Now, talk about a veto override session continues to gather steam among lawmakers, especially when it comes to bills dealing with election integrity.

One of those bills, which was authored by Representative Blake Miguez (R-Erath), proposes restricting billionaires from dumping millions of dollars into state elections.

“The first veto of the session was a bill that I authored,” said Miguez. “It’s mainly called the Zuckerbucks bill because it dealt with Mark Zuckerberg, a billionaire that runs Facebook, investing somewhere around $300 to $350 million in paying for local elections.”

Edwards explained his reason for his decision by putting out a statement on the bill. It reads, “while in committee there was overheated rhetoric about the motivations of social media companies trying to influence elections, this bill would also likely prevent the local VFW from providing donuts for election workers on election day.”

Miguez responded by saying, “the governor’s statement is using a hypothetical that he came up with that he doesn’t believe his bill affects.”

Under Louisiana’s constitution, a veto session is automatically scheduled when a governor rejects a piece of legislation. But a majority vote by either the House or Senate can stop the gathering from happening. If a veto session were to happen, it would occur between July 20 and July 24 of this year.

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