The House Governmental Affairs Committee meets Wednesday to discuss Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin’s plan for the November Presidential election and December run-offs. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Sam Jenkins of Shreveport says he does not like that the plan has greater restrictions on who can vote by mail from what was allowed during the summer elections.
“With the availability of mail-in voting, the hope would have been to expand it more but we certainly don’t want to roll back from the present stage,” said Jenkins.
The only COVID-related reason for requesting an absentee ballot for the November and December elections is that if you test positive for the virus during early voting or before Election Day.
Governor Edwards says he will reject Ardoin’s plan as he calls it woefully inadequate and says the issue might have to be resolved in the courts. Edwards says it does not expand mail-in balloting options for individuals who have been told to quarantine or those who are vulnerable to the disease.
Jenkins also does not like that Ardoin’s plan calls for ten days of early voting when there were 13 days of early voting for the summer elections.
“Anything that we can do to try to reduce the number of people who actually have to stand in line and vote, I think under the circumstance, is the direction we should be going,” said Jenkins.
Slidell Senator Sharon Hewitt, chairwoman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, does not see any issues with Ardoin’s proposal. Hewitt says elderly voters, who are the most susceptible to poor health outcomes from COVID, have always been allowed to request an absentee ballot.
“Out current election law addresses a majority of those concerns. I like the Secretary’s proposal for folks that have tested positive, of course, we do not want them voting in person,” said Hewitt.
Louisiana already allows people 65 or older to use mail-in voting. People who are hospitalized can also request an absentee ballot.
Hewitt says constituents have told her they felt safe with the way in-person summer elections were handled and says the current plan would account for spread mitigation efforts that would encourage more in-person voting.
“We want people’s vote to count and we want people to have the opportunity to vote, and I believe the most secure way to do that is to go vote in person,” said Hewitt.
The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee will consider the proposal on Thursday.