Louisiananans to head to polls Saturday
Published 7:00 am Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Louisiana voters will have a chance to have their voices heard in the state’s presidential preference primary Saturday.
That is the day Democrats and Republicans will have a chance to select their favorite nominee for president. In addition, some Republican voters who live in applicable precincts will be able to choose their representative in the Republican Central Committee Race. This is a race for a governing party position, not a legislative position.
Denise Robinson, the supervisor over the election department, said Republican voters who are eligible to pick the RCC candidate will have to choose between Ginger Corkern and Roy K. Burns. Voters who are not asked to pick an RCC candidate live in a district already represented by either Phillipp Bedwell or Beth Mizell, who were unopposed in their respective races.
Meanwhile, Democrats will only select their preferred presidential nominee.
As of Tuesday, the Republican frontrunners included U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and New York businessman Donald Trump. On the Democratic side, frontrunners include U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former secretary of state and U.S. senator Hilary Clinton.
Because the ballots were printed before some more familiar candidates dropped out, both ballots will include the names of candidates no longer running — including Martin O’Malley and Jeb Bush.
Robinson said voters who pick those candidates who have suspended their campaigns would not have their votes counted.
The polls will open at 7 a.m. Saturday and they will close by 8 p.m.
In order to vote, voters will need to have photo ID with them. The secretary of state’s website says this can be a driver’s license, a special state ID or, “some other generally recognized picture ID that contains your name and signature.”
However, Robinson said if voters don’t have one of these things, they could vote by
affidavit, provided they’re registered to vote.
The secretary of state’s website states that if problems should arise during the Saturday election, the parish registrar of voters’ office will be open all day.
For a list of voting locations by precinct and for a look at the ballot, visit the secretary of state’s website at voterportal.sos.la.gov/home.