BATON ROUGE, La. (KTVE/KARD) — Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin has issued a statement regarding Louisiana’s November and December elections.
This statement comes a week after Gov. John Bel Edwards declined to endorse Sec. Ardoin’s Emergency Election Plan.
According to the statement from Sec. Ardoin’s office, Louisiana will not have the following due to Gov. Edwards decision:
- Additional three days of early voting
- Extended polling hours for early voting
- Additional time for Registrars to verify and process absentee ballots that will allow more timely reporting of election results
- An adjusted absentee ballot application deadline that more closely aligns with United States Postal Service (USPS) delivery standards
Sec. Ardoin outlined five steps that he says will be taken in the coming weeks, which include directing all registrars and clerks to ensure that poll workers at early voting and election day locations adhere to CDC guidelines on mask-wearing, social distancing, cleaning of machines, and making disposable masks available to voters who want one.
He also stated that a state of emergency will be declared that will allow the “Clerk of Court and presiding officer of the parish governing authority” to move polling places from senior centers or other places that create a public safety issue.
The third step that will be taken will have registrars work local nursing home operators in their parishes to designate a staff member as “temporary staff” of the registrar. This will allow the nursing home staff member to receive training to help facilitate voting for nursing home residents where the facility remains in lock-down.
The fourth step will “advise registrars to consider offering” a curbside drop-off point for voters to submit their ballots between the end of early voting and Election Day, while the fifth step would extend the absentee ballot cure process that was implemented during the July and August elections through the end of the year.
Sec. Ardoin added that the Tangipahoa Parish Registrar of Voters has received an Attorney General’s opinion regarding the ability for voters with COVID to request to vote absentee by mail if certain requirements are met, under existing legislative authority.
Sec. Ardoin finished the statement by saying that all of these steps will be taken to “ensure that Louisianans have every opportunity to vote consistent with the existing law.”
