Natchitoches Mayor Ronnie Williams Jr. is under scrutiny for remarks he made during an event by a Northwestern State University of Louisiana student organization about a scholarship raffle he said is intended to boost voter registration.
The Natchitoches Parish Journal last week published a cellphone video of Williams explaining the proposed $500 scholarship at an event on Feb. 20 hosted by the Black Male Alliance student organization at NSU. The video contained a provocative headline: “Mayor Ronnie Williams: Did He attempt to bribe voters?”
“Doesn’t matter nationality, gender, whatever. You update your registration to vote we’ll put you in a basket to win a scholarship toward your tuition,” the mayor can be heard saying in the roughly one-minute long clip.
In a statement to The Current Sauce, the mayor’s office did not address the allegations contained in the headline: “We are encouraging everyone to participate in the electoral process. After the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s race, it is clear that every vote counts. Voting is a fundamental right and I will encourage all to exercise that right.”
The mayor did not respond to further questions about the video, and several questions remained about the provenance of the footage. A reader submitted the video to the Natchitoches Parish Journal, a local news website that covers the whole parish. Bill Vance, operations for the NPJ, told The Current Sauce that the video was from a live stream that was on social media days prior.
“It should be that we vote because you know, we just want to make sure that we have good representation of all of the city, but you know you gotta kinda do all these little things,” the mayor said in the video.
Williams, a Democrat, spoke at a Barbershop talk at Platinum Kuts about the importance of voting.
The video raises questions about whether the mayor potentially violated state election law in offering a monetary incentive for students to register to vote. Louisiana law defines bribery of voters as “the giving or offering to give, directly or indirectly, any more, or anything of apparent present or prospective value, to any voter at any general, primary or special election … with the intent to influence the voter in the casting of his ballot.”
Richard Hasen, a professor of law and political science at University of California, Los Angeles, explained that offering scholarships for people to register to vote may violate the Louisiana statute and federal law.
“However, often times when people violate laws like this, they don’t realize they are violating the law or acting illegally. They think they are doing their civic duty. I don’t know anything about the specifics here, but that has been my experience,” Hasen told The Current Sauce.
During the livestream, the mayor announced Bailey Willis as the contact person for the raffle. Willis, NSU student body president, responded to her mention in the video explaining that the scholarship was being done through Onyx Wine and Cigar Lounge.
“Basically, if students register to vote/ change their voter location, they will contact the lounge and request to have their name entered to potentially win a scholarship. I am not a point of contact for the scholarship,” Willis said in an email response.
The Current Sauce contacted the manager of Onyx, the business conducting the scholarship raffle. “Onyx will award a $500 scholarship to a student for civic engagement, which is one of the most notable ways to make a difference at a local level,” Nicole Gray, Onyx manager, said. “As most know, I employ several NSU students and have encouraged them to get involved in voter registration efforts.”
Gray also added that there is no relationship between the mayor and Onyx. “As the owner of Onyx, I have offered the location for campaign functions and community engagement events,” she said.
It wasn’t clear why the mayor announced the raffle at the event. The Caddo sherrif’s race he mentions in his statement was a controversial election this past December as a single vote decided which candidate had won. However, the win has been voided after a district court ruled that some of the votes were irregular and were not valid in the election. This resulted in a new election.
The next local election is the municipal primary on March 23; Mayor Williams will be on the ballot for re-election. His running mates are James Below Jr., Democrat; former mayor of Natchitoches Lee Posey, Independent; Gerard Lamar “Jerry” Witman Jr, Democrat, as listed on geuxvote.com. This Saturday is the last day for any Louisiana resident to register to vote in order to take part in the municipal primary.
How this situation will affect the mayor for his re-election status is not known. The Current Sauce contacted the Natchitoches Police Department, which said no complaint was filed. The Current Sauce also reached out to the Secretary of State about a possible investigation, but the Secretary of State did not have a comment at the time of publishing this article.
