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November 21, 2015Lafont wins reelection
November 22, 2015
Every time polls open, local election officials must assist a small handful of voters who, through neglect or circumstance, do not have government photo identification.
Unlike other states that require identification for voters, Louisiana has a provision in its law that makes allowances for voters who don’t bring or don’t have it.
A registered voter can fill out an affidavit – a sworn statement – at the polling place attesting to their identity. The information is verified at a later time.
Bayou Region registrars said they have no way to know how many people fail to show up because their driver’s license is expired, revoked or lost.
Terrebonne Parish Registrar Rhonda Rogers recalls that during last week’s early voting, one man said he was concerned he would get into trouble because his license address did not match his home address.
“He didn’t want to get in trouble for that,” she said. “I told him he wouldn’t. It doesn’t matter to us as long as we can verify that it is you.”
“There are several that we get for each election,” said Terrebonne Deputy Registrar Patty Breaux.
Rogers, along with Lafourche Registrar Jackie Aucoin, are hoping for high turnouts Saturday, when voters will choose Louisiana’s governor and choose between candidates for other statewide offices, as well as those running legislative seats and other local races.
Early voting in Terrebonne resulted in more voters casting ballots than did in the October primary, even though the primary involved more races.
In Lafourche, however, the early runoff turnout was greater than the number of voters who showed up for the primary.
Early ballots in Terrebonne last week numbered 4,357, compared to 4,121 in October.
Aucoin said her parish’s 5,247 in-person early voters, coupled with 188 mail-ins, were higher in number than the October early voters, by about 16 percent. Asked about early voters who needed to fill out affidavits because of missing or inadequate identification, Aucoin said the number stood at around a dozen.
This year’s election is personally significant for both registrars; Aucoin plans to retire in February, so Saturday marks her last election in that capacity. For Rogers, who was appointed to the Terrebonne spot after the retirement of her mother, Linda Rodrigue, this year’s elections marks the very first time she has been in charge of voting.
“I feel like a huge weight has been lifted” Rogers said, admitting that she had experienced some nervousness. “So far, everything has gone right. We have double and triple checked.”
