Polling places in Washington Parish will be open this Saturday, May 16, as both Republicans and Democrats will select their party’s candidates for the general election.
Although a heated race for U.S. Senate has grabbed most of the headlines, more recently the attention has turned toward a major development in the race for the U.S. House of Representatives. The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling prohibiting redistricting based on race, and as a result the state of Louisiana has postponed its Congressional primaries until new districts can be configured and approved by the state Legislsture.
The rescheduled races for the U.S. House of Representatives will now be held on November 3, with a runoff set for December 12.
All of the other races on the ballot will be voted on this Saturday. Both Democrats and Republicans have candidates running for the U.S. Senate. But after that, the rest of the offices on Saturday’s ballot will have only Republican candidates.
Because Louisiana is using a new closed primary system, only Democrats can vote in the Democratic primary and only Republicans can vote in the Republican primary. The exception is for voters who are registered as ”No Party.” These voters can choose which party’s primary they want to vote in. However, in the November 3 and December 12 rescheduled Congressional elections, all voters can vote for any candidate from any party.
For this Saturday’s election, polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m., and Washington Parish election officials remind voters to bring a valid photo ID with them to the polling place.
