Louisiana has set a new milestone for early voting turnout, shattering its previous record from the 2020 presidential election cycle. A significant surge pushed the numbers up when 849,784 voters turned out for in-person early voting from October 18-29, which not only outpaced the 2020 in-person numbers of 817,957 but also included a record-breaking single-day total of 103,456 yesterday, the final day of early voting, according to FOX 8 Live.
With these numbers at hand Secretary of State Nancy Landry announced the new early voting records, highlighting that the state saw a total of 960,561 voters, including absentee ballots returned, taking action ahead of the November 5 election. The previous single-day record was 99,004, set on the final day of early voting back in 2020, and as for voter participation by parish, East Baton Rouge Parish stood out with a significant 93,169 early votes cast while smaller parishes such as West Feliciana saw 3,371 voters turning in their ballots early.
In what signifies a notable shift in voter behavior, registered Republicans in Louisiana have taken the lead during this early voting period. Political analyst John Couvillon noted a change in the party dynamics with Republicans outvoting Democrats by a 9% margin, whereas Democrats had a 7% advantage in 2020. This shift, Couvillon explained in an interview with USA Today Network, "It''s a much more Republican-friendly electorate for early voting than in the past and Republicans dominated in all 10 days, which is unprecedented," as noted by Shreveport Times.
As the deadline for absentee ballots approaches, voters have until 4:30 p.m. on Friday, to request an absentee ballot and until 4:30 p.m. on November 4 to return it, the urgency for those unable to cast their votes in person is palpable. KPLC TV reports that to assist voters, the Secretary of State's Office is encouraging the use of the free Geaux Vote Mobile app or the GeauxVote.com website, which provide helpful resources for locating polling places and viewing sample ballots.
