Louisiana

Election Day:

The Open Primary/Presidential/Congressional Election will take place on November 5, 2024. Polls will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

The Open General/Congressional Election will take place on December 7, 2024. Polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. CST

Early Voting:

Early voting is October 18, 2024 – October 29, 2024 (excluding Sundays) from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST for the Open Primary/Presidential/Congressional Election on November 5, 2024.

Early voting is November 22, 2024 – November 30, 2024 (excluding Sundays and Thanksgiving) from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. CST for the Open General/Congressional Election on December 7, 2024.

Absentee Voting:

For most voters, voted absentee ballots must be received by the parish registrar of voters by 4:30 p.m. CST on the day before Election Day.

Military voters and/or their dependents, overseas voters, and hospitalized voters must be received by the parish registrar of voters by 8:00 P.M. CST on Election Day.

You can find your polling place by using the Louisiana Voter Portal; downloading the free GeauxVote app to your smartphone or tablet; visiting GeauxVote; calling your parish Registrar of Voters Office; or viewing your polling location on your voter information card received by mail from your registrar of voters.

Note: Polling places may change due to being unavailable or due to an emergency. Please check the Polling Location Changes page to make sure you go to the correct polling place on Election Day.

Registration Deadlines

For registration deadlines, see How to Register below.

How to Check Your Registration: Voters can determine whether they are registered to vote at the following link: Am I Registered?.

You are eligible to vote in Louisiana if you:

Are a U.S. citizen
Are at least 18 years old by Election Day
Reside in Louisiana and the parish in which you want to vote

You are NOT eligible to vote in Louisiana if:

You have been legally declared “mentally incompetent” by a court or partial interdiction with suspension of voting rights
You are in prison or jail for a felony conviction

Restorative Requirements

After five (5) years on probation or parole or the completion of your full sentence, including probation or parole, whichever comes first, your right to vote is restored, even if you are on parole or probation.

You may preregister to vote in Louisiana

at the age 17 (16 if registering in person at the registrar of voters or at the office of motor vehicles)

How to register

Louisiana Municipal General Election
- Submit a Printed Application: Postmarked by Wed Apr 2, 2025
- Post Received by Wed Apr 2, 2025
- In-Person Request by Wed Apr 2, 2025
- Apply Online: Online by Sat Apr 12, 2025

You can register to vote using the GeauxVote Online Registration System. The voter registration form is also available here. You can also register at many government offices, as well as your parish registrar of voters office.

Residency Requirements:

In Person: If registering in person at a parish Registrar of Voters Office, you are required to prove age, residency, and identity. You must submit your current Louisiana driver’s license, if you have one, or your birth certificate or other documentation which reasonably and sufficiently establishes your identity, age, and residency. If you have no driver’s license, special Louisiana ID or social security number, you may provide a picture ID, a utility bill, payroll check or government document that includes your name and address. If registering at a mandated site (government services site), no further proof of identification is required other than whatever proof is required for services received that you have applied for at the public agency.
Online: If registering online, a Louisiana driver’s license or Louisiana special ID card is required to register to vote electronically, because the form requires the audit code on the card. The audit code is a four-digit number labeled AUDIT on the front of the license. Please note that a Louisiana mobility impaired card is not an adequate form of identification for registration purposes because it does not contain a signature.
By Mail: For registration applications submitted by mail, a Louisiana driver’s license or Louisiana special identification card number is preferred. But if not available, the voter may use the last four digits of the voter’s social security number to register.

Note that you must register with a residence address in the parish with a street or rural route address. Post office box addresses and mail center boxes do not qualify.

If You Want to Vote Absentee, requests may be made:

In-Person
By Mail
By Fax
Online

Absentee Ballots may be returned:

In-Person
By Mail
By Fax

Louisiana Municipal General Election

Ballot Request:

Tue Apr 29, 2025 4:30PM

Ballot Return:

Fri May 2, 2025 4:30PM

The following applications for absentee ballots are available:

You must have one of the listed reasons to qualify for a mail ballot:

military or overseas citizens;
senior citizens (65+);
voters with disabilities;
students & professors or the spouse/dependent thereof;
religious clergy or the spouse/dependent thereof;
voters temporarily absent during early voting and election day;
voters who moved to a new parish more than 100 miles from former residence within 30 days of election;
persons involuntarily confined to an institution;
sequestered jurors;
voters hospitalized or who expect to be hospitalized during early voting and election day;
voters employed upon state waters
voters incarcerated for non-felony with sheriff’s certification; or
participants in the state’s address confidentiality program.

Absentee ballots can be returned in several ways:

By Mail (includes commercial carrier).
By Fax: Upon request submitted to the registrar of voters.
By Hand Delivery: A voter or immediate family member of the voter may deliver the ballot to the registrar of voters. A signed statement must be completed upon delivery by anyone other than the voter, certifying their relationship to the voter.

No person (except for the immediate family of the voter) is allowed to deliver, or submit for delivery, more than one marked ballot per election to the registrar.

Note: There are emergency provisions in place for Military, Overseas, and hospitalized voters to return ballots. Contact the registrar of voters for additional information.

Early Voting Location Information: A detailed list of early voting locations in your parish can be found when you login to the voter portal. A complete list of early voting locations for the entire state is available here.

Voter Registration

To register to vote in Louisiana you should provide one of the following:

Your Louisiana Driver’s License Number
Louisiana Special ID Card Number
Last Four Digits of your Social Security Number

If you do not have any of these IDs, you can provide a copy of one of the following with your registration application:

Current and Valid Photo ID
Government Issued Document that shows your current name and address
Government Check
Bank Statement
Paycheck that Shows your Current Name and Address
Current Utility Bill

You can alternatively provide one of these documents when you vote to complete your registration. If you do not have one of these forms of ID and need help getting ID, go to www.voteriders.org.

Voting In-Person

If you are registered to vote in Louisiana, you are required to show ID to vote; or, if you do not have an accepted ID you may instead sign an affidavit. Accepted forms of ID include:

Valid Louisiana Driver’s License
Louisiana Special ID Card
Other generally recognized picture identification card that contains the name and signature of voter

If you do not have one of the Louisiana valid IDs and need help getting ID, go to www.voteriders.org.

ID for Voting In Person

If you have a valid photo ID, you must present it to vote in person. If you don’t have a valid ID, you can complete a Voter Identification Affidavit.

ID for Voting Absentee

Voters who mail in their absentee ballot are not required to provide any additional form of identification, but must sign the envelope affidavit flap and have a witness sign the affidavit flap as well.

Louisiana Special ID Card

Voters who do not possess a Louisiana Driver’s License may obtain a free Louisiana Special ID card at any Office of Motor Vehicles by showing their voter information card; or by showing one primary and two secondary identification documents; or three secondary documents.

Primary identification documents include:
- Birth certificate
- Passport
- US Military ID card
- Certificate of Naturalization
Secondary identification documents include:
- Social security card
- Out-of-state or out-of-country driver’s license
- Educational diploma
- Medicare / Medicaid or health insurance card
- Proof of Louisiana residency such as a bank statement or utility bill.

Moving within the Same Precinct:

Go to your regular polling location. You should ask for, and fill out, an address confirmation card. You can cast a regular ballot.

Moving within the Same Parish:

You can still vote at your old polling place by regular ballot. You should ask for, and fill out, an address confirmation card; this change will take effect after the general election. If you appear on the “inactive voter list,” you may need to complete an address confirmation card, which affirms your new address.

Moving Between Parishes:

You must re-register when you move to a new parish. You can still vote at your old polling place by regular ballot, if you moved within the last three months. You should ask for, and fill out, an address confirmation card; this change will take effect after the general election. If you appear on the “inactive voter list,” you may need to complete an address confirmation card, which affirms your new address and that you moved within the last three months.

If the move was over three months ago, you must re-register before the registration deadline.

Voting Military

Service members and their dependents may register and request a ballot using the federal voter registration/ballot request form (“FPCA”). You will have the following identification options when completing the form:

U.S. State or Territory or District Issued ID
Option to Indicate that you do not have the Requested ID
Last 4 Digits of your Social Security Number

Voting Overseas

U.S. citizens living overseas may register and request a ballot using the overseas voter registration/ballot request form. You will have the following identification options when completing the form:

Option to Indicate that you do not have the Requested ID
Last 4 Digits of your Social Security Number
U.S. State or Territory or District Issued ID

You may register to vote or change your registration online or print an application to register to vote and return it by mail or fax to your parish registrar of voters. Email a request for a registration application to the registrar of voters of the parish where you last resided prior to military service or going overseas. Return it by mail or fax it to your parish registrar of voters.

Request an Absentee Ballot Online: Registered voters may submit a request for an absentee ballot electronically by logging in to the Louisiana Voter Portal and doing the following:

Click the “Search By Voter” button;
Fill out the requested information and click “Submit” button;
Click the “Request Absentee Ballot” link found in the right hand column of the Quick Links.

The person logged in to the voter portal may only request an absentee ballot for themselves. If you elect to receive your ballot electronically, you will be required to submit your email address.

Request an Absentee Ballot by Mail or Fax: Print an application for absentee ballot for military and overseas citizens, complete it and mail, fax or email it to your parish registrar of voters. Military and overseas citizen’s requests for absentee ballots must be received by the parish registrar of voters no later than 4:30 p.m. CST one day prior to the scheduled election date.

Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot: You may complete the Louisiana FPCA Application online. You must have a valid Louisiana driver’s license number or Louisiana special ID card and an address in Louisiana where you last resided to submit electronically. If a Louisiana driver’s license number or Louisiana Special ID Card number has not been issued, you may complete the online form, print the form and send by mail to the parish registrar of voters.

You may also view the Federal Voting Assistance Program website to complete the FPCA form and send by mail to the parish registrar of voters.

To track your request for an absentee ballot or the status of returned ballots, log in to the voter portal and click the ‘Ballot Information’ tab.

The deadline for returning voted ballots to the registrar of voters office for an election are:

by 8:00 p.m. on election day for military personnel and/or their dependents;
by 8:00 p.m. on election day for the hospitalized;
by 8:00 p.m. on election day for U.S. citizens residing outside the U.S.; or
by 4:30 p.m. on the day before election day for all others.

A misdemeanor conviction does not disqualify a person from voting in Louisiana. Those incarcerated for a misdemeanor during an election can register to vote absentee via General Application, but the voter must enclose a certification by a sheriff that the voter is not under an order of imprisonment for a felony.

If you have been convicted of a felony, you can vote if you are no longer under an order of imprisonment (including probation, suspended sentences, and parole) OR (a) you have not been incarcerated within the last five years (even if you are still under an order of imprisonment, i.e. on probation or parole) and (b) the order of imprisonment is not related to a felony conviction for election fraud or certain other election offenses.

How to restore voting rights after a felony conviction depends on whether the voter was registered previously.

If the voter was not registered to vote previously and thus is a first-time voter, they can register to vote normally under any of the options laid out in Question 4.
If the voter was registered to vote previously, the voter must appear in person at the registrar of voters office, complete a voter registration application, and provide documentation to prove that they have completed probation and/or parole or that they have not been incarcerated within the last five years and are not under an order of imprisonment related to a felony conviction for election fraud or any other election offense pursuant to La. R.S. 18:1461.2. Disabled and homebound voters may submit applications and documentation by mail, facsimile, commercial carrier, or hand delivery.
- Documentation for disabled and homebound voters must include either (1) approved eligibility for the Special Program for Handicapped Voters in existence prior to January 1, 2010, or (2) current proof of disability from a physician along with a certification from the physician indicating that the person is unable to appear in person to vote either during early voting or on election day, by reason of their disability.
- Note: These additional documentation requirements are currently being challenged in court, but as of now they remain in place.

Upcoming Elections

Voting in Louisiana

Louisiana Municipal General Election