By Bobby Ardoin
Eunice News Correspondent
St. Landry Parish election officials are attempting to minimize any ballot difficulties as early voting continues for a May 16 parishwide School Board millage election in addition to decisions on five statewide amendments and two U.S. Senate closed party primaries.
What’s not on the ballot are Louisiana U.S. Congressional elections that are now suspended after Gov. Jeff Landry executive order issued April 30 following a U.S. Supreme ruling which declared that state lawmakers need to meet and redraw the Louisiana Congressional map.
Voters are also questioning how to navigate the closed primaries restrictions which begin in 2026.
Clerk of Court Charles Jagneaux said this week some voters apparently think the May 16 election has been canceled due to the April 29 U.S. Supreme Court ruling..
There’s an additional question among individuals whose names appear on a published inactive voters list who think they are perhaps ineligible to vote in the May election, said Registrar of Voters Byron Stelly.
Jagneaux provided one example of wrong information that he said is being circulated.
“I received a text on my phone the other day which said the (May 16) election had been canceled. I don’t know who sent me that text, but I wonder how many other people received the same text with that information,” Jagneaux said.
Projected Turnouts
Both Jagneaux and Registrar of Voters Byron Stelly said in separate interviews that they are anticipating a potentially lower than normal voter turnout in connection with the May 16 election.
The early Saturday voting period at both the parish courthouse and Eunice City Hall indicated 327 ballots were cast at the courthouse, while 84 voted in Eunice, according to Stelly.
Early voting, which is conducted at City Hall and the Courthouse until May 9, begins at 8:30 am and ends at 6 pm each day.
Stelly said the Monday morning voter turnout appeared to be slow.
“I thought (on Saturday) that there was a big turnout, but it was not larger than normal for a first day of early voting. Based on the first day, I would expect that we could see a lower turnout for this election in comparison,” Stelly said.
Stelly also expects the two-part School Board millage proposal which requires voter approval for each of the two propositions to become effective, will influence voter turnout.
Potentially Confused Voters
Jagneaux thinks the state closed primaries, enacted in January, 2024 during a special legislative session called by Landry and the suspended Congressional elections are the main source of what Jagneaux called, “voter confusion.”
“I think you are going to see a lower voter turnout because of the closed primaries. There are also voters out there who are thinking the election has been called off due to rumors being spread by word of mouth,” said Jagneaux.
Jagneaux said he has attempted to combat any misinformation about the May 16 election by using social media posts and newspaper and radio announcements.
Poll commissioners are having to “bear the burden” of the closed primaries, since lock out devices have been placed in voting booths to ensure that individuals registered with one party are now unable to vote for candidates of another party, said Jagneaux.
The apparent winners in a closed primary election, Jagneaux said, are the independent voters or those registered as “no party.”
Independents can decide whether they want to vote in either the Republican or Democratic primaries or neither primary, said Jagneaux.
Jagneaux acknowledged that his research shows 31 percent of St. Landry Parish voters are registered as either independent or no party.
Poll commissioners and precinct workers have undergone training sessions to handle any problems on election day, said Jagneaux.
“Inactive Voter” Question
Stelly said individuals who have been placed on published inactive voter lists won’t necessarily be prohibited from voting in the May 16 election.
“No one is being purged from the (voting) rolls. The list of inactive voters contains the names of voters whose addresses cannot be confirmed and who have not voted in the last two federal elections,” Stelly said.
“What voters with inactive status need to do is to re-register or fill out a change of address form. When those on the inactive list get to the polls, they will be able to fill out the change of address form. The commissioners already have the names of those whose names have been flagged as inactive,” Stelly said.
Stelly estimated that 5,500 St. Landry voters have their names on the published voter inactive list.