05:20 PM CST on Friday, December 9, 2005

Associated Press

BATON ROUGE, La. -- A lawsuit filed Friday seeks to force Gov. Kathleen Blanco to hold elections scheduled in February, including New Orleans' mayoral primary, rather than putting them off because of damage from Hurricane Katrina.

Blanco has not postponed the elections.

However, the state's top elections official has recommended she do so because New Orleans sustained so much hurricane damage to its polling places and voting machines. Blanco has followed Secretary of State Al Ater's advise and postponed other elections in areas hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The suit was filed in Baton Rouge by lawyer and two-time congressional candidate Rob Couhig, on behalf of six New Orleans residents who Couhig said want the right to choose who will make decisions on rebuilding the city. Couhig said he doubted the city is incapable of holding elections on time, as Ater has suggested.

"It may be inconvenient, it may be expensive, but there are very few things that are as important as the right to vote," Couhig said. "I mean, we're going to have an election in Iraq this week."

Mayor Ray Nagin is up for re-election in February, as is the city's sheriff and members of the city council.

Blanco's office had no immediate comment on the suit.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)