Police Jury elections are off in Avoyelles and three Louisiana parishes. Candidates for Avoyelles Parish Police Jury, Concordia Parish Police Jury and East Feliciana Parish Police Jury will have to wait until spring.

That's because their redistricting plans weren't approved by the Department of Justice due to apparent user error in a FAX machine.

The parish needed approval from the Department of Justice before going forward with qualifying for the October elections. Qualifying starts next week.

A spokesman for the Secretary of State's Office said a blank fax was received from the Justice Department in Washington D. C. just before deadline Monday. Someone had sent it upside down, thus sending the blank back side of the paper. It was sent August 29, 2011 at 5:07 p.m. eastern time, which was 4:07 central time, which would have been in time for the 5 p.m. deadline in Louisiana.

Another fax was sent Tuesday morning. It was a letter from the Department of Justice approving Avoyelles redistricting plan.

The late approval means paying for a special election for Avoyelles. The police jury already had an election last year which was ordered for a desegregation suit ordered by the federal government. This fall's election was the regularly scheduled election, which still needed federal approval.

Other elections on the ballot this fall are still on.