Commissioner of Elections for the State of Louisiana, Angie Rogers, was recognized Friday by the Civil Service League as this year’s Monte M. Lemann Award recipient. The Lemann Award is the highest civil service award given to administrators and unclassified employees in the state.
Rogers has served as commissioner of elections for the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office for more than a decade. Under her leadership, the state has become a national model for election preparation, implementation, integrity and innovation. Roger’s career has always been steeped in elections, from her beginnings as staff attorney to the Louisiana Legislature’s House and Governmental Affairs Committee that oversees election laws, to her service as a Civil Division lawyer in the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office where she defended high profile election cases all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“When Louisiana voters go to the polls to cast their ballot on Election Day, the person behind the scenes, ensuring not only each citizen’s right to vote, but also their right to a fair and impartial election system, is Angie Rogers,” said Secretary of State Tom Schedler. “There is no greater demonstration of democracy than fair and reliable elections, and Angie has been integral to that work here in Louisiana under the leadership of several secretaries of state, including myself. Angie’s legal background, coupled with her instinctive determination and focus, provide the perfect framework in overseeing Louisiana’s complex election system. Her influence in an area so critical to our nation’s core beliefs and values is immeasurable and touches the lives of every one of Louisiana’s three million registered voters,” Schedler emphasized.
This winter, Rogers will retire from the State of Louisiana and the Secretary of State’s Office. She is most noted for her work after Hurricane Katrina in making sure voters in New Orleans were able to participate in municipal elections despite extensive damage to hundreds of polling places as well as thousands of individuals displaced out of state. Additionally, she oversaw the implementation of new voting machines statewide in 2005 and has been influential in the vision for Louisiana’s next generation of technology that will soon be employed. During Roger’s tenure, Louisiana led the nation in innovative practices including online voter registration, real-time election night results reporting and an award winning smartphone app, GeauxVote Mobile.
