La. residents have until Sept. 23 to register to vote in gubernatorial primary

11th September 2023   ·   0 Comments

By Julie O’Donoghue
Contributing Writer

(lailluminator.com) — Louisiana residents have until Sept. 23 at the latest to register to vote to participate in the upcoming primary election that features open races for governor, attorney general, state treasurer and secretary of state.

If you do not have a Louisiana driver’s license or special identification card, you must register to vote by an earlier deadline, Sept. 13. Only people who register to vote through an online system, which requires a state driver’s license or special ID card, can wait until Sept. 23.

You can register to vote at 16 years old but must be at least 18 years old on Election Day to cast a ballot. Every voter must also be a U.S. citizen and live in the parish where they vote.

Here are details about the three ways to sign up to vote:

Online (Sept. 23 deadline)
You can vote or change your existing voter registration information online through the GeauxVote voter registration system, but you must have a Louisiana driver’s license or Louisiana special identification card to do so. A Louisiana “mobility impaired” card is not a valid form of ID for this purpose.

The GeauxVote website is also typically unavailable between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. daily, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

In person (Sept. 13 deadline)
You can register to vote in person, even if without a special identification card or Louisiana driver’s license, at the following locations:
• Registrar of voters offices
• Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services
• WIC offices
• Food stamp offices
• Medicaid offices
• Armed forces recruitment offices
• Offices serving people with disabilities

At most of these offices, no proof of identification will be required beyond the documents needed to access the services the offices provide.

At the registrar of voters offices, you will have to produce your Louisiana driver’s license, special identification card, birth certificate, Social Security card, utility bill, payroll check or another document that provides your name and address as proof of identification.

Mail (Sept. 13 deadline)
You can mail in your Louisiana voter registration application to your local registrar of voters office. It must be postmarked by Sept. 13 to be eligible for the October primary.

When using the mail option, you must also submit your Louisiana driver’s license number, special identification card number or the last four digits of your Social Security number.

If you have not been issued a Social Security number, driver’s license or special identification card yet and you have never registered to vote in Louisiana before, you must submit a copy of a current photo ID, utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or another government document with your application.

For more information, visit the Secretary of State’s website.

This article originally published in the September 11, 2023 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.