Louisiana legislation targets mail-in absentee voting as it gains in popularity

Louisiana lawmakers have filed legislation that would make it harder to vote by mail, particularly for elderly shut-ins and people with disabilities, just as record numbers cast ballots Saturday on the first day of early voting in the state’s March 23 presidential primary election.

Since Louisiana adopted early voting almost 20 years ago, it has steadily grown in popularity. The coronavirus pandemic created a surge in mail-in voting that continues to increase, according to Baton Rouge pollster John Couvillon. 

Saturday saw a 17% increase in mail-in voting for the first day of early voting compared with  the 2020 presidential primary. There was an even greater spike for In-person early voting, which was up 89% relative to four years ago, with six days remaining to cast a ballot ahead of time. 

For any given statewide election, more than a third of all ballots are now cast before Election Day.

This year’s early voting numbers, so far, appear to favor Democrats. The largest share of ballots cast, approximately 50%, came from Democrats, compared with 44% from Republicans, according to results from the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office. 

The racial breakdown, 68% white and 30% Black, was identical to the 2020 primary when the state expanded the duration of early voting and gave out more absentee ballots during the onset of the pandemic. 

That Democratic lean typically holds only for the first day of early voting, attributed to the opening and counting of all the mail-in ballots that have piled up for several weeks. The rest of the early voting period, which ends Saturday, is dominated by in-person voting that typically leans Republican, Couvillon said.   

“In other words, it looks like mail is here to stay as a statistically significant, though not dominant, component of how Louisianians cast their vote,” Couvillon said.

Republican state lawmakers have proposed legislation that could make it harder to vote through the mail, likely hurting Democrats, Blacks and disabled voters.

House Bill 476, sponsored by Rep. Josh Carlson, R-Lafayette, would prohibit a person from mailing more than one absentee ballot for a voter who isn’t an immediate family member. Carlson didn’t respond to a request for comment Monday.

Under current law, no person except the immediate family of the voter shall hand deliver more than one absentee ballot per election to a registrar of voters to be counted. Carlson’s bill would expand that provision to include delivery by mail. 

Ever since former President Donald Trump spread lies about his loss to President Joe Biden in the 2020 election, Trump’s supporters have perpetuated disinformation centered around mail-in voting and other false claims of election fraud. 

The act of “ballot harvesting” has posed a legitimate threat in at least one previous election.  The practice occurs when someone approaches an absentee voter with an offer of assistance in completing or returning the ballot. If the voter consents, the person will collect the completed ballot and return it for the voter.

During a 2018 congressional election in North Carolina, Republican candidate Mark Harris hired political operatives who collected hundreds of absentee ballots and illegally tampered with them. The scheme led to an overturned election and a host of federal charges and guilty pleas.

Still, Carlson’s proposal could cause problems at nursing homes and other facilities that use a front desk or a mailroom to collect and distribute mail for its residents. 

The Power Coalition’s Ashley Shelton said it’s already burdensome for disabled people in rural communities to get assistance when voting. Rather than making it harder, lawmakers should instead consider the recommendations that the Legislature’s Disability Voting Task Force submitted last year, she said.

It could also disenfranchise voters who are in jail awaiting trial and unable to make bond, who are most often Black or poor, Shelton said. 

The first stop for Carlson’s bill is the House and Governmental Affairs Committee. 

A proposal in the upper chamber, Senate Bill 134, sponsored by Sen. Alan Seabaugh, R-Shreveport, would completely revoke voting rights from people on probation or parole for a felony offense. It would reverse laws approved in 2018 that allowed people under community supervision to vote. 

Seabaugh’s bill is assigned to the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee. 

Other proposals include: 

• Senate Bill 101, from Sen. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, that would prohibit any parishes or municipalities from adopting a ranked-choice voting system of elections. Ranked choice allows voters to note their order of preference for candidates. Advocates say it provides voters a greater say in who ultimately is elected, while critics have argued it goes against the one-person, one-vote standard.  
• House Bill 90, by Rep. Beau Beallieu, R-New Ibieria, would prohibit state and local election officials from following any federal election directive without first receiving authorization from the state Legislature.
• House Bill 506, from Rep. Polly Thomas, R-Metairie, would force voter registration organizations to get clearance from the Secretary of State in order to operate.