Louisiana early voting tops 430,000, passes 2022 midterm election total

Louisiana early voting tops 430,000, passes 2022 midterm election total

EAST BATON ROUGE — Early voting in Louisiana concluded Tuesday ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm election, with turnout already outpacing the state's previous midterm mark.

More than 430,000 voters cast early in-person or absentee ballots through Monday, surpassing the full early voting total from 2022, according to data from the Louisiana Secretary of State's Office.

On the final day of early voting, Southern University students held a second-line march to the polls in downtown Baton Rouge, followed by a rally. The demonstration was part of a nationwide push to drive youth voter turnout.

Registration figures suggest that effort has gained traction. Voter registration among 18- to 20-year-olds in Louisiana climbed 11.5% compared with the 2022 midterm cycle, alongside broader increases among Black voters and young voters statewide.

Local election offices are seeing similar engagement. In East Baton Rouge Parish, voters cast more than 45,000 ballots through Monday, said Steve Raborn, the parish registrar of voters. Statewide and in East Baton Rouge, registered Democrats accounted for the largest share of early ballots ...