LaSalle Parish Registrar of Voters Angie Sandifer reports that a large number of people cast their ballots during the Early Voting period held last week in Jena.

Sandifer noted that when Early Voting closed Saturday evening, 1,719 people had voted in person with another 228 mail-in ballots received for a total of 1,947 ballots. There are still another 196 ballots that have been mailed that have yet to be returned.

During the October 14 primary, 1,492 people voted early, translating to 455 more ballots for the November 18 election than the October 14 election.

The overwhelming driver in this higher voter turnout in Early Voting is attributed to local elections, including the LaSalle Parish Sheriff’s race and four Police Jury positions.

Early vote totals increasing for runoffs is actually typical for the parish. Back in 2019, the last Sheriff’s election, 2,243 Early Votes were received for the October primary and that total increased to 2,715 for the November runoff election.

Polls will open at 7:00 a.m. this Saturday, November 18, and will close at 8 p.m. for the Gubernatorial General Election.