Upcoming Elections
2010 General Election: 11/2/10
Click here for 2009 election dates
Polling Place Hours: 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Click here to download a Louisiana Frequently Asked Questions document created by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and its pro bono law firm partners.
Voter Registration Information
Click here for a Louisiana Voter Registration Guide created by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and its pro bono law firm partners.
Registration Deadlines
Last day to pre-register to vote in the General Election is 30 days before the election.
2010 General Election Registration Deadline: 10/4/2010
Election Day registration is not available in Louisiana.
Identification Required for Registration
To register to vote in person at a parish registrar of voters office, you must submit proper proof of your age, your residency, and your identity.
Acceptable forms of identification include:
- your current Louisiana driver's license
- your birth certificate
- other documentation which reasonably establishes your identity, your age, and your residency.
How to Check Registration
Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE
Visit the Louisiana Secretary of State's Polling Place Locator or contact your Parish Registrar of Voter's Office (PDF)
Voting Information
Identification Required to Vote
To vote, you must present a valid photo ID to your precinct official. Acceptable photo IDs include
- A Louisiana driver's license
- A Louisiana special ID card
- Any other generally-accepted picture ID card
If you do not have a photo ID, you may still vote if you (1) sign an affidavit, and (2) present to the polling official one of the following:
- a utility bill,
- payroll check, or
- any government document that includes your name and address
How to Find Your Polling Place
Call 1-866-OUR-VOTE
Visit the Louisiana Secretary of State's Polling Place Locator
Absentee Voting
Click here to visit GoVoteAbsentee.org, a resource for absentee voters.
Who may vote absentee?
- U.S. servicemembers (and their spouses and dependents),
- A student or professor (and their spouses and dependants) of an institution of higher learning located outside the parish in which he/she is qualified to vote and who lives outside of said parish by reason thereof,
- A minister, priest, rabbi, or other member of the clergy (and his/her spouse and dependents) assigned to a religious post outside of the parish in which he/she is registered,
- A person who expects to be temporarily away from the parish in which he/she is qualified to vote during the early voting period and Election Day,
- A person who, after the end of the registration period, has moved his/her residence to another parish, and the new residence is more than one hundred miles from the parish seat of his/her former residence, in which case he/she may vote absentee in the parish of his/her former residence;
- A person involuntarily confined in an institution for mental treatment outside the parish in which he/she is qualified to vote, who is not interdicted and not judicially declared incompetent;
- A person residing outside the United States.
- A member of a sequestered jury on Election Day;
- A person who expects to be hospitalized on Election Day and who did not have knowledge of his proposed hospitalization until after the early voting period; OR a person who expects to be hospitalized on Election Day and who was hospitalized during the early voting period; OR a person who was hospitalized and released prior to an election but who is either hospitalized or restricted to his bed by his physician during early voting and is restricted to his bed by his physician on Election Day.
- A person who by virtue of his employment or occupation expects to be out of his precinct of registration and upon the waters of the state both during the early voting period and on Election Day.
- A person who lives at home and is approved for participation in the Special Handicapped Program,
- A person incarcerated in an institution inside or outside the parish in which he is qualified to vote, who is not under an order of imprisonment for conviction of a felony, may only vote absentee by mail, all other conditions being satisfied,
- A participant in the Department of State Address Confidentiality Program.
- Any qualified voter who submits any of the following to the registrar:
- A copy of a current mobility-impaired identification card issued by the Secretary of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.
- A copy of current proof of disability showing eligibility for social security benefits, veteran's disability benefits, paratransit services, benefits from the office for citizens with developmental disabilities, or benefits from Louisiana Rehabilitation Services.
- Current proof of disability from a physician.
- A senior citizen (65 or older)
Procedure for Absentee Voting
- Complete the absentee voting application
- Mail, fax, or deliver the completed application to the registrar of voters for the parish for which the voter is registered no earlier than 60 days before Election Day and no later than four days before Election Day. (2010 General Election Deadline: October 29, 2010).
- You will then receive a ballot in the mail. Attached to your ballot will be an instruction sheet explaining how to complete the ballot and how to return your ballot to be counted.
- Deadline for Returning Your Ballots:
- Military Personnel: Election Day
- U.S. Citizens residing outside the U.S.: Election Day
- All others: Day before Election Day
Early Voting
Early Voting is allowed in Louisiana.
Who May Vote Early?
- Any person eligible to vote in Louisiana.
Where may you vote early?
- At your parish Registrar of Voters office.
For additional sites designated by certain parish registrars please visit the Louisiana Secretary of State's Early Voting webpage.
When can you vote early?
- Between 8:30 a.m to 6:00 p.m, from 14 to 7 days prior to the election.
- 2010 General Election: October 19, 2010 to October 26, 2010
Information For People who have Moved or Changed Addresses
If you have moved within the same PRECINCT (and parish) and have not updated your address for voter registration purposes, you should vote at the polling place of the last address on file with the registrar of voters. However, when you vote, you must fill out an address confirmation card affirming the new address within the precinct.
If you have moved to a different precinct within the same PARISH and have not updated your address for voter registration purposes, you should vote at the polling place of your last address on file with the registrar of voters. However, when you vote, you must fill out an address confirmation card affirming the new address within the precinct.
If you have moved from one parish to another and have not updated your address for voter registration purposes, you should vote at the polling place of the last address on file with the registrar of voters. However, when you move, you will have to fill out an address confirmation card affirming the new address and affirming that the length of time since the move is less than three months.
Information for People with Felony Conviction
If you have been convicted of a felony, you may vote once you have served your sentence.
For more information, go to the Secretary of State's website, or click here to download a Louisiana Election Protection manual created by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and its pro bono law firm partners.
