There are only four days left to vote early for the October 14th election.
Early voting began Saturday, September 30th and will end this Saturday, October 7, according to La-Salle Parish Registrar of Voters Angie Sandifer.
Early voting is different than its predecessor Absentee Voting. The system of Absentee Voting required an excuse to vote early while the Early Voting procedure allows anyone to vote early without having an excuse.
Those wishing to vote early may do so from 8:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. each day at the LaSalle Parish Registrar of Voters office in Jena at 1009 Courthouse Street Suite B, located across from the LaSalle Parish Courthouse.
In Louisiana, a photo identification or signature on a voter affidavit is required to vote during Early Voting.
The October 14th ballot is large featuring many state, district and local elections along with a one parish-wide sales tax proposition and four constitutional amendments.
Among the statewide elections are Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General and Treasurer.
LaSalle Parish voters will join other surrounding parishes to decide the District 5 BESE member and District 20 State Representative.
In LaSalle only, voters will cast ballots for the position of LaSalle Parish Sheriff.
There are also several positions on the La-Salle Parish Police Jury that voters in individual districts will decide. Those include Districts 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10.
The parish will also vote on the LaSalle Parish School System’s one-cent sales tax proposition, which divides the one-cent in the following distribution percentages: 50% construction/ maintenance; 25% school safety/security; and 25% supplemental pay.
Also on the ballot, for the Town of Urania, two names will be listed for the open position of Alderman. However, Sandifer noted that Bobby Brown has since withdrawn which means Teresa Sanders Corley is automatically elected. Although voters in Urania will still see two names on their ballots for Alderman (since he withdrew after the ballots were constructed) and technically may still cast a vote in that race, any votes for Brown will not be counted.
“Technically, there is no race for Alderman for the Town of Urania due to his withdrawal,” Sandifer said.
Sandifer encouraged all voters to exercise their right to vote during this election cycle.
“Voting is the fundamental right of all legal United States citizens and is a bedrock of our government and society,” Sandifer said. “We are all thankful for our freedoms here in the United States and the freedom to vote and elect our leaders is paramount to the success of our nation. I ask that all LaSalle Parish residents register to vote and then exercise that right on election day.”
The Registrar also noted that due to the October 14th ballot being considerably lengthy, voters should know the ballot and how they are going to vote prior to entering into the ballot booth.
“I would like to urge voters to study their ballot before voting since they are only allowed three minutes in the voting booth,” she said. “The ballot is pretty long and voter turnout is expected to be heavy.”
