As always, it's best to double check with your state for any recent changes to election rules: Louisiana Election Website
COVID-19 info for Louisiana
- Coronavirus (COVID-19), Louisiana Office of Public Health
Louisiana voter registration
- In Person: 30 days before Election Day.
- By Mail: Postmarked 30 days before Election Day.
- Online: 20 days before Election Day.
N/A
To register in Louisiana you must:
- be a citizen of the United States
- be a resident of Louisiana (Residence address must be address where you claim homestead exemption, if any, except for a resident in a nursing home or veteran’s home who may select to use the address of the nursing home or veterans’ home or the home where he has a homestead exemption. A college student may elect to use his home address or his address while away at school.)
- be at least 17 years old (16 years old if registering in person at the Registrar of Voters Office or at the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles), and be 18 years old prior to the next election to vote
- not currently be under an order of imprisonment for conviction of a felony. (If you are under an order but have not been incarcerated within the last five years, you ARE eligible to vote unless your conviction was for election fraud.)
- not currently be under a judgment of interdiction for mental incompetence
- Use our Register to Vote Tool to fill out the National Voter Registration Form.
- Sign and date your form. This is very important!
- Mail or hand-deliver your completed form to the address we provide.
- Make sure you register before the voter registration deadline.
- If you have been convicted of a felony and have questions about whether you can register to vote, visit Restore Your Vote to determine your eligibility.
Louisiana absentee ballots
- In Person: Received by 4:30pm, 4 days before Election Day.
- By Mail: Received by 4:30pm, 4 days before Election Day.
- Online: Received by 4:30pm, 4 days before Election Day.
- Received by 4:30pm, 1 day before Election Day (most voters). Election Day (hospitalized voters).
You may vote by absentee ballot in Louisiana if:
- you are a student or teacher located and living outside of your parish of registration, or the spouse/dependent thereof;
- you are 65 years of age or older;
- you are a minister, priest, rabbi, or other member of the clergy assigned outside of your parish of registration, or the spouse/dependent thereof;
- you are or expect to be temporarily outside the territorial limits of the state or absent from your parish of registration during the early voting period and on Election Day;
- you moved your residence to another parish more than 100 miles from the parish seat of your former residence after the voter registration books closed (the books close 30 days prior to Election Day);
- you are involuntarily confined in an institution for mental treatment outside your parish of registration and you are not interdicted and not judicially declared incompetent;
- you expect to be hospitalized on Election Day and did not have knowledge until after the time for early voting had expired; you were hospitalized during the time for early voting and you expect to be hospitalized on Election Day; or you were either hospitalized or restricted to bed by your physician during early voting and on Election Day;
- you work or expect to be offshore working and expect to be out of your precinct of registration both during the early voting period and on Election Day because of your employment or occupation;
- you are incarcerated in an institution inside or outside of your parish of registration and you are not serving time for a felony conviction;
- you are a program participant in the Department of State's Address Confidentiality Program;
- you will be sequestered on the day of Election Day; or
- you are the secretary of state, an employee of the secretary of state, or an employee of the registrar of voters.
- Use our Absentee Ballot Tool to prepare your application.
- Sign and date the form. This is very important!
- Return your completed application to your Local Election Office as soon as possible. We'll provide the mailing address for you.
- All Local Election Offices will accept mailed or hand-delivered forms. If it's close to the deadline, call and see if your Local Election Office will let you fax or email the application.
- Double-check the deadlines and be sure to cast your voted ballot on time to be sure it is counted.
- Please contact your Local Election Office if you have any further questions about the exact process.
- Once you receive the ballot, carefully read and follow the instructions.
- Sign and date where indicated.
- Mail your voted ballot back to the address indicated on the return envelope.
- Double-check the deadlines and be sure to cast your voted ballot on time to be sure it is counted.
Louisiana Early Voting
18 days before Election Day.
7 days before Election Day.
Louisiana voter ID
If you are voting in person in Louisiana (including during early voting), you must present one of the following forms of valid photo ID at the time you vote (plus more if you're a first time Louisiana voter, see below):
- A Louisiana driver's license or special ID card;
- A Louisiana wallet digital driver's license;
- Another generally recognized picture ID card that contains your name and signature
If you don't have any of the above IDs, you can still cast a ballot by completing a sworn statement.
If you registered to vote in Louisiana for the first time, submitted your voter registration application by mail, and you didn't provide your Louisiana driver's license or special ID number, or the last 4 digits of your Social Security number when you registered to vote, you will also need to bring a photo ID, utility bill, bank statement, or other government document that shows your name and address in order to vote.
If you're not voting for the first time in Louisiana or provided ID at the time of registration, you don't need to provide ID to vote by mail.
If you're a first time Louisiana voter who registered by mail and you didn't provide ID when you registered, you'll need to provide a photocopy of one of the following forms of ID along with your mail ballot:
- A copy of a current photo ID showing your name and photograph
- A copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows your name and address (excluding a voter information card)
Offsite links
- State Election Website
- Local Election Office: This is the government office responsible for running elections in your region. Theses are the best people to contact if you have any questions at all about voting in your state.
- Find your polling place
- Absentee ballot tracker tool
- Learn more about absentee voting
- Learn more about early voting
- Learn more about voter ID
- State Election Code