Voting Access
Louisiana’s GOP lawmakers now support COVID-19 accommodations for upcoming elections
Two state legislative committees on Tuesday unanimously approved a proposed emergency election plan that would offer mail-in ballots and other coronavirus-related accommodations for voters to use in municipal races this spring, two special congressional elections and a special state House race in February. Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin presented the plan to the Senate […]
Absentee ballot deadline is Friday at 4:30 p.m.
The deadline to return absentee ballots for Louisiana’s upcoming election is 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 4. With the deadline just days away, voters should return completed ballots in-person to their respective parish registrar of voters office or have an immediate family member return them. Voters who cannot meet the absentee ballot deadline can still […]
Louisiana governor vetoes changes to the emergency election plan process
Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed Wednesday legislation that would have changed the process for implementing an emergency election plan like the one used over the summer to make it easier to vote during the COVID-19 pandemic. Edwards said he was uncomfortable with provisions of the bill that would have allowed the Legislature to approve an […]
Voter who sued Louisiana for ballot access says voting should always be easy
When Jennifer Harding started caretaking for her mother, father and grandmother in March, she and her family started isolating from the rest of the world. “Before even the stay-at-home order went into place, we took our son out of school,” Harding said. Harding was worried about the safety of her mother, who has post-polio syndrome, […]
More Louisianans cast a ballot this year than any other in the past 30
With 92 percent of precincts reported as of 12:30 on Nov. 4, 2,100,291 voters cast their ballots in Louisiana, the most ever in a presidential election. 2,100,291 of the 3,092,871 is an unofficial turnout of 69.4 percent. An increase of the 67 percent voter turnout in the 2016 presidential election. Before Nov. 3, about a […]
Election generators cause argument between New Orleans mayor and sec. of state
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell and Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin spent Sunday accusing one another of failing to make sure all the city’s polling places will have power Tuesday, but by Sunday night it appeared that all the city’s voters will be able to vote at polling sites that have power. Cantrell announced […]
Polling places may be relocated due to Zeta
State and local officials are working to figure out how much damage Hurricane Zeta caused to polling locations across Southeast Louisiana and if any need to be relocated ahead of Tuesday’s presidential election. The Category 2 storm made landfall in Cocodrie, an unincorporated fishing village in Terrebonne Parish about 85 miles southwest of New Orleans. […]
Governor vetoes bill that sought to prohibit election grant money
Gov. John Bel Edwards said Monday that he has vetoed a bill that would have prohibited local election officials from using nonprofit grant money to pay for election-related expenses. House Bill 51, introduced by Rep. Blake Miguez, R-Erath, sought to prohibit registrars of voters and clerks of court from accepting grant money from private individuals […]
Bill is overhauled to streamline emergency election plans and expand early voting
A bill that initially would have removed the governor’s power to veto emergency election plans underwent wholesale changes Tuesday with an amendment that would retain the governor’s veto power and streamline the process Louisiana uses to provide special accommodations for voters during an emergency. The bill also seeks to expand early voting locations. With no […]
Early voting begins in Louisiana
The early voting period for the November election began at 8 a.m. Friday morning, and reports of long lines and people waiting several hours to vote were reported across the state, including Shreveport, Monroe, Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Dale Sibley the Caddo Parish Registrar of Voters, told the Shreveport Times, “Turnout has been tremendous,” […]
Republican ‘hyper partisan’ attempt to curtail governor’s power could decrease access to the polls
When state Sen. Sharon Hewitt was taking questions from her Senate colleagues Oct. 1 about a bill she’d drafted to weaken the governor’s role in establishing an emergency election plan, Sen. Regina Barrow asked Hewitt point blank, “Is this a method to try to suppress the vote?” Though Hewitt, a Slidell Republican, had previously expressed […]
Louisiana attorney general blocked millions in grant money awarded to parish clerks
Parishes across Louisiana, including those devastated by Hurricane Laura, were forced to reject millions in grant money from a nonprofit tech organization after Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry told the officials it was illegal for them to use grant money on election expenses. Although Landry insists accepting the money is already illegal, GOP lawmakers are […]