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Registrar of Voters seeing large increase in requests for absentee ballots

More people are looking to mail in their vote this November
Posted at 2:55 AM, Aug 21, 2020
and last updated 2020-08-21 08:36:03-04

Requests for mail in ballots are pouring in to registrars' offices across the country, and in Iberia Parish it is no different.

"In March we had received just about 1,000 requests for absentee ballots. Right now for the November 3rd election, we are looking at more than 2,600 and expecting more to come in," says Kristie Blanchard, Iberia Parish Registrar of Voters.

She says this will make her staffs' jobs busier this fall, but those people requesting mail in ballots will also need to get busy if they'd like to take advantage of that option.

"There's deadlines for people to request ballots so our November 3rd election, the deadline is October 5th and then they can do online with the Geaux Vote app, they can request until October 15th," says Blanchard, adding that those voters should mail their completed ballots in as soon as possible because mail has been slightly delayed in recent months.

Only certain groups qualify to mail in their votes.

"You're 65 and older, you're higher education which is mostly college students, disabled people, military and overseas can request ballots. The advantage for them is they can get a ballot sent to them and they can vote by mail and then send it back in time," says Blanchard.

The next best option if you'd like to avoid busy times at the polls, is to take advantage of early voting where there are less people and more time availability.

To learn more about the upcoming election, visit the Secretary of State's website.

On GMA, Abby Breidenbach shows us how to access the Louisiana Voter Portal and request an absentee ballot:

How to request a mail in ballot for the November 3 election