La. secretary of state releases emergency election plan

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - We’re now getting a better picture of what things could look like when people head to the polls on Nov. 3.

Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin released his emergency election plan for the State of Louisiana, which will require most people to vote in-person.

MORE>>> Louisiana emergency election plan scales back mail-in voting

“Well we’re expecting 2.1 million people to participate (in November). That would be around the 69-70% mark, which is what we’ve traditionally had,” said Kyle Ardoin.

As for conditions to keep you and your family safe, Ardoin says he has that in his plan as well.

“Social distancing first and foremost, commissioners are going to be outfitted with gloves, with face shields if they prefer a face shield. The person checking the voter in is going to have a desktop voter shield. And then we’ll also have gloves for the voters who want to use it or the finger covers, a lot of voters used the finger covers this last election cycle, and then face masks,” said Ardoin.

Ardoin said his real concern with mail-in voting is whether or not the postal service can actually handle an increase of absentee balloting.

“But we got rave reviews from voters that voted in person, which was about 82% of all the participants in July that voted in July. And it’s a tradition in Louisiana, and I think people want to continue that,” said Ardoin.

“But I think (July emergency election plan) it struck a reasonable balance in protecting peoples health and allowing them to vote and doing that in a way that could actually be administered in Louisiana. And so it would be my hope and expectation that the plan that the secretary of state proffers to me and the legislature, which is substantially similar to the one we just executed,” said Governor John Bel Edwards on August 13. 

“So I find myself in a box, in between everything. And as administrator, I’ve got to figure out what’s the best plan I can get passed through the legislature. And I think we’ve come up with that plan,” said Ardoin.

Two committees will have to approve the plan this week, then both houses of the Legislature and Governor Edwards.

Click here to read the full emergency plan.

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