By Mail

Louisiana requires an excuse to vote by mail. Voters may cast a ballot by mail if they:

• Are a student, instructor, or professor living outside their parish of registration;

• Are 65 years of age or older;

• Are or expect to be temporarily outside of Louisiana or their parish during the early voting period and on Election Day;

• Work or expect to be offshore during the early voting period and on Election Day;

• Have a physical disability;

• Are a member of the clergy assigned outside their parish of registration, or the spouse/dependent thereof;

• Have moved more than 100 miles from the parish of their former residence after the registration books close (30 days prior to an election);

• Are involuntarily confined in an institution for mental treatment outside their parish of registration and have not judicially been declared incompetent;

• Expect to be hospitalized on Election Day and did not have knowledge of the hospitalization until after the early voting period has ended, or were hospitalized or confined to their bed during early voting and expect to remain hospitalized or confined to their bed on Election Day;

• Are or expect to be incarcerated and are not confined pursuant to a felony conviction;

• Are a participant in the Secretary of State’s Address Confidentiality Program; or

• Will be sequestered on the day of the election for jury duty.

 

You may request a ballot online if you possess a Louisiana driver's license or ID card, or submit an application by mail to your parish registrar of voters. If this is your first time voting in Louisiana and you are voting by mail because you are student attending school outside your parish of registration, be sure to include a copy of your student ID or a fee bill.

 

Voters who have a physical disability or who are homebound and require assistance to vote may apply for an absentee ballot using the Disabled Application for Absentee By Mail Ballot. If you qualify to vote under this excuse, you will need to submit proof of disability and, if you submit your request by mail, a copy of photo ID or the names and addresses for two people who reside in your precinct and who could make an oath, if required, that you have a physical disability. 

 

The deadline to request a mail-in ballot is 4:30 p.m. on the 4th day before Election Day.

 

Completed vote-by-mail ballots must be returned and received by the parish registrar of voters by 4:30 p.m. on the day before Election Day.

 

More information about mail-in voting is available on the Secretary of State's website at:

sos.la.gov/ElectionsAndVoting/Vote/VoteEarly/Pages/default.aspx.

 

Early In Person

Any registered voter may vote early in person.

 

Early voting begins 14 days before Election Day and ends 7 days before Election Day for all elections except presidential elections; early voting in presidential elections begins 18 days before Election Day. You may vote early at designated location from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., excluding Sundays.

 

All early voting locations can be found online before each election at:

voterportal.sos.la.gov/EarlyVoting.

 

Election Day

Voting sites will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day for elections occurring on Tuesdays. For Saturday elections, voting sites will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

 

If you are in line by close of polls, then you have a right to vote.