Voting In Louisiana

To be eligible to vote in Louisiana you must be:

• A U.S. citizen
• A resident of Louisiana
• At least 17 years old and 18 years old prior to the next election to vote
• Not currently under an order of imprisonment for conviction of a felony
• Not currently under a judgment of interdiction for mental incompetence

If you register to vote in person at a parish registrar of voters office, you are required to prove age, residency, and identity. You may submit your current Louisiana driver's license, birth certificate, or other documentation which reasonably and sufficiently establishes your identity, age, and residency.

To vote, you must either present a valid photo ID, or sign an affidavit if no photo ID is available. Acceptable photo ID includes:

• A Louisiana driver's license
• A Louisiana special ID card
• Any other generally recognized picture ID card

If you do not have a picture ID card, you may sign an affidavit which will be attached to the precinct register, and you will be required to provide further identification as requested by the commissioner at the polling place.

Louisiana statutes require you to be registered 30 days prior to an election to be eligible to vote in that particular election.

To verify your voter registration status, please contact your local election's official.

Absentee ballots are due four days before election day. You are eligible to vote absentee by mail if you registered in person but have never voted or if you are already registered and have previously voted. You may apply for absentee ballot if you are:

• A student, instructor, or professor (or spouse or dependents of the following,) in an institution of higher learning located outside the parish.
• A minister, priest, rabbi, or clergy (or spouse or dependents of the following,) assigned to a religious post outside the parish.
• A person who is or who expects to be temporarily outside the territorial limits of the state or absent from the parish during early voting and on Election Day.
• A person who has moved after the registration books closed (30 days prior to an election) to another parish and the new residence is more than 100 miles from the parish of former residence.
• A sequestered jury member.
• A person who expects to be hospitalized on Election Day and did not have such knowledge until after early voting week passed.
• A person who expects to be hospitalized on Election Day and who was hospitalized during early voting.
• A person who was hospitalized and released prior to an election but who is either hospitalized or restricted to bed during early voting and on Election Day.
• A person who by virtue of employment or occupation expects to be out of their precinct during early voting and on Election Day.

To request normal absentee ballots by mail, you must complete and return a request for absentee ballot indicating the reason you are not able to vote in person absentee or in person on Election Day.

You may request an absentee ballot as early as 60 days prior to the election.

You are entitled to receive assistance while absentee voting if you are unable to read or unable to vote without assistance because of a physical handicap, including blindness. You may choose who assists you as long as they are not a candidate, employer, employer's agent or your union agent.

Displaced voters can vote by mail or vote early in person at the registrar of voters office of their parish , or on election day at their precinct. Contact your local elections official for more information. You can also click here for a displaced absentee ballot. Overseas citizens and U.S. military personnel can register to vote and request an absentee ballot at the Overseas Vote Foundation.

Any person who is qualified to vote may vote during the early voting period at a place designated by the registrar. The early voting period for the March 27, 2010 Primary Election is Saturday March 13-Saturday, March 20, 2010

You may wish to contact your parish registrar for specific dates and times.

The next election will be held Saturday, March 27, 2010 (Wednesday, Februrary 24, 2010: Registration Deadline). The following elections are scheduled to take place in 2010:

Please check with your local board of elections office for information on local elections.

In order to be a poll worker in Louisiana:

• You must be registered to vote in Louisiana
• You will be entitled to compensation
• You must be at least 18 years of age
• Political affiliation required
• You must be a resident of election precinct
• You must complete required training
• Students who are at least 17 years of age who are otherwise a qualified voter may work if they are registered as a high school senior
• College students may choose to register to vote in either the state they are attending school or the place they reside when they are not in school

To sign up, contact your local board of elections.

Polls will be open from 6:00 am to 8:00 pm.

Time off to vote is subject to the employer. Louisiana state law does not require employers to grant time off to vote for employees.

You can find your polling place by utilizing the Louisiana State Polling Place Locator Tool.

If you have further questions on your polling place location, please contact your county clerk.

You must be a registered voter in the parish where you vote and eligible to vote in the election for federal office for your provisional ballot to be counted. If you are in the parish where you are registered to vote and you are voting at the wrong precinct, you will be given a paper provisional ballot for federal offices only. You will not be permitted to vote on the state, local, or municipal offices, propositions, or constitutional amendments.

If you are not registered to vote in Louisiana, and you enter a precinct to vote, you will be given a paper provisional ballot for federal offices only. You will not be permitted to vote on the state, local, or municipal offices, propositions, or constitutional amendments.

If you have the designation Mail 1st time federal election" by your name in the precinct register, you will be required to cast a paper provisional ballot for only federal offices if you do not present to the commissioner a current and valid photo ID or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows your name and address.

If you are required to vote a paper provisional ballot for federal offices only, you will be required to sign a voter identification affidavit and you will be permitted to vote on the voting machine on the state, local, or municipal offices, propositions, or constitutional amendments.

If you cast a paper provisional ballot for federal offices only, your provisional ballot may or may not be counted. You must be a registered voter in the parish where you vote and eligible to vote in the election for federal office for your provisional ballot to be counted.

If you cast a provisional ballot in a recent election and want to know if it was counted you should contact Frances Sims, Nancy Underwood or Angie Bouy with the Secretary of State Elections Division at 1-800-883-2805. You should wait at least seven days after an election to call, and should be prepared with your provisional ballot number.

The voting system used in Louisiana is DRE.

Direct Recording Electronic (DRE): This is the newest kind of system in use in the U.S. All the information about who and what you are voting for is on an electronic screen like a TV or computer screen.

There are many variations of DREs because lots of companies are inventing new ones, and many cities, counties and states are trying them out. Usually, after you have signed in, the poll workers will give you a card that you slide into a device to start your voting session.

Some of these devices will show all of the candidates and ballot choices on one big screen. Often, with these big screen devices you push a button next to the name of the candidate you want to vote for (or yes or no on a ballot measure). On other DREs, the screen is set up to show “pages.” On each screen or page, there will probably be one thing to vote on. For example, on one screen or page, you might vote for president. Then you might move to the next page to vote for senator. Often these small-screen devices have a “touch screen,” where you touch the screen next to the name of the person you want to vote for. Other devices have a key pad. And some have a keyboard, so you can write in the name of someone you want to vote for.

You let the system know you are finished voting by pushing a button, touching the screen or entering something on a keypad.

Information on local, state and federal candidates and ballot measures is available here.

Voters who are physically unable to vote in person at the polls on Election Day and unable to vote in person at the registrar's office may be eligible for the special program for physically handicapped voters. Call your parish registrar of voters office and ask for more details to see if you are eligible. Disabled voters may go to the front of the line at their polling place.

For information on federal campaign contributions, please visit Open Secrets.

For information on state campaign contributions, please visit your state's resource.