Early voting for the October 12 election begins today.
On the ballot are statewide offices including Governor, as well as seats in the state House and Senate. There are several Constitutional amendments up for approval, and many local races as well.
Early voting begins today and continues Monday through Saturday of next week. You can vote from 8:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. at your local registrar of voters office. To find the address for your parish, click here. To vote in this election, you had to have registered to vote by September 11 in person, or by September 21 online.
If you want to vote absentee by mail, you have to request it by October 8 at 4:30 p.m. You can request an absentee by mail ballot online through the Secretary of State's Voter Portal or in writing through your Registrar of Voters Office (other than military and overseas voters). The deadline for your registrar to receive that mail ballot is October 11 at 4:30 p.m., other than military and overseas voters.
So what's on the ballot?
To see a list of who is running by parish you can read our story here, or you can find your ballot on the Secretary of State's website here.
To read about the Constitutional amendments, check out our story here. It has links to the Public Affairs Research Council's complete guide on those amendments.
Here are the local propositions, by parish:
ACADIA PARISH has one prop on the ballot, a tax renewal for the Bayou Mallet Gravity Drainage District. It is a 5.04-mill tax that raises about $370,500 annually for gravity drainage works in the district. A "yes" vote would renew the tax for 10 years.
IBERIA PARISH voters must decide on an amendment to the parish Home Rule Charter. The proposal would replace the 1983 charter with a new one adopted by the parish council in April. You can read the parish press release about the proposal here. We've also posted a copy of the "redline" version below, just scroll down. This is the old charter, with all the changes noted in it.
LAFAYETTE PARISH voters will decide if $8 million collected and earmarked for parish libraries should instead be dumped into the parish general fund to pay for park maintenance and construction and roads, bridges and drainage. You read about that situation here.
In ST. LANDRY PARISH, Melville voters will decide a request to levy a 1-cent sales tax expected to raise about $25,000 annually for the town's fire and police protection.
ST. MARTIN PARISH voters must decide a renewal in Sub-Road District No. 1 of Road District No. 1. The 6.46-mill tax raises about $160,000 annually and is used for improving and maintaining roads in the district. A 'yes' vote would renew the millage for 10 years.
ST. MARY PARISH voters will decide a renewal in Law Enforcement Sub-District No. 1. The 15-mill tax raises about $460,000 annually and provides funding for the district. A 'yes' vote would renew it for five years.
Here's the Iberia Parish document:
