Louisiana voters will head to the polls Saturday to elect the state’s next attorney general, secretary of state, and treasurer in a general election that is expected to see low turnout.
Voters statewide will also decide on four proposed amendments to the state’s constitution, and voters in many parishes will elect legislators and municipal leaders. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
The Louisiana Secretary of State's office has predicted that between 15% and 18% of the state’s voters will turn out on Saturday, a low rate likely owed to the fact that the marquee race this election cycle, that of governor, was settled Oct. 14 with Gov.-elect Jeff Landry’s outright victory.
"We want to encourage people to vote," said John Tobler of the Secretary of State's office. "We've done a tremendous amount of outreach to make sure that folks know that everyone has something on their ballot."
Pollster and demographer John Couvillon of Baton Rouge has estimated slightly higher turnout on Saturday, around 25% of voters. Had the governor’s race still been undecided, turnout might have reached 35%, he said.
“You’re talking about 25%, which is pretty low, but I just think that interest is low, given that the governor race is not on the ballot,” he said.
A total of 273,703 people have already cast their votes in the state. That figure includes voters who mailed in absentee ballots as well as those who participated in an early voting period that ran from Nov. 3 through Nov. 11.
In the New Orleans area, voters will decide runoffs for several state House seats, the parish president in St. Bernard Parish, and the Parish Council in St. Tammany.
A number of taxes are also on local ballots across metro New Orleans, including a firefighters tax in Kenner and health tax in St. Tammany.
In the Baton Rouge area, there are runoffs for several legislative seats. In Livingston Parish, the library system is asking voters to renew a property tax that provides most of its funding, and West Baton Rouge voters will elect a sheriff.
Meanwhile, the 157,000 registered voters in Lafayette Parish have the opportunity Saturday to help decide who will lead the city and parish administrations as mayor-president. A City Council race is also on the ballot.
Lafayette Parish Clerk of Court Louis Perret, ever hopeful about the interest of voters in elections, said this week he's expecting only about 20% of registered voters to participate in Saturday's election, down from a disappointing 37% who voted in the Oct. 14 election, when the governor's race was on the ballot.
In the northwest Louisiana races that will decide which political candidates will hold office, only eight will draw votes from Caddo Parish and six will get votes from Bossier Parish. Three of both sets are statewide elections, and voters will cast ballots in one or more of the other races depending on where they live.
Voters in Mooringsport will weigh in on five propositions.
Those races include Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education District 4, Senate District 39, House District 4, Caddo Parish Sheriff, Caddo Parish Assessor and Bossier Police Jury District 10.
Staff writers Kristin Askelson, Barbara Leader and Bob Warren contributed to this report.