Early voting starts Friday, October 18 and this is one of those elections where a lot of voters probably don’t know what they don’t know. What does that mean? In many places, there are a lot of items on the ballot.
The marquee race this election cycle is pretty self-evident – it’s time to choose a new President of the United States. In recent years, that race alone has drawn huge numbers of Louisiana voters to the polls, many of whom only turn out for elections every four years.
But whether you are one of those occasional voters or the chronic kind, this election in particular is one where it’s a good idea to prepare yourself. That’s because across the state many voters will find there are more decisions to make on their ballots than they might have thought.
Besides the presidential race, all six Congressional races are on the ballot. That is nothing new, but keep in mind the boundaries of each of those districts has changed – some of them profoundly.
Beyond that, depending on where you live, you might be voting on a Public Service Commissioner, mayor, judges, myriad other local officials, various propositions, and everyone gets to weigh in on yet another constitutional amendment.
The point is, if you’re just thinking about the big races, your ballot might surprise you. That’s why it makes sense to check things out before you show up at the polls. The best way to do that is to download the Geaux Vote app from the Louisiana Secretary of State. It’s available wherever you get your apps.
It’s loaded with great information including your personal ballot, which you can mark for reference purposes before you vote, plus the location of your polling place, the various districts you live in, and your state and local elected officials.
Don’t forget, early voting runs October 18-29 and Election Day is November 5.
Constitutional Amendment
While lawmakers introduced just over 40 constitutional amendments this year, they only passed five and just one of those is on the early ballot.
Know before you go and check out CABL’s analysis of Amendment #1.