News

Apathy expected as early voting begins

by Jeremy Alford, LaPolitics

Three judicial races, a trio of special elections for the Louisiana House of Representatives and a number of local-level contests on the ballot this month should produce an overall voter turnout that’s below 20 percent.

Three judicial races, a trio of special elections for the Louisiana House of Representatives and a number of local-level contests on the ballot this month should produce an overall voter turnout that’s below 20 percent, according to the secretary of state’s office.

Early voting got underway this past weekend for those elections and will run through Saturday, March 18.

There hasn’t exactly been a spike in participation, though, which signals a depressed Election Day on March 25, officials say.

“There’s just usually not a lot of interest for these local races and ballot initiatives,” said Secretary of State spokeswoman Meg Casper Sunstrom.

There is one big change for early voters in the eastern portion of New Orleans, where a tornado brought devastation in February.

There are 13 precincts there that are being consolidated inside the state’s voting machine warehouse in the city.

State officials are working to make sure voters are aware of the temporary location.

Meanwhile, those satellite voting precincts that were used in Livingston Parish last election cycle due to the 2016 flooding event are no longer needed.

“Everything is back in its original locations,” Sunstrom said.