Responsive Gov’s Grade TL;DR

The Louisiana Legislature passed more than a dozen new anti-voter laws in 2024. In recent years, the governor helped serve as an important back stop to anti-voter legislation by vetoing several restrictions passed by the Legislature. Unfortunately, this past year the new governor reversed course and supported all of the Legislature’s new voter restrictions while vetoing legislation that would have enabled voters to receive help with completing their voter registration forms at their local parish election office. There were a few positive measures passed, but in combination with the overwhelming anti-voter initiatives signed into law, Louisiana received a D on this year’s progress report.

Looking Back

Where Louisiana Started at the Beginning of 2024

• Automatic Voter Registration: No
• Online Voter Registration: DMV ID
• Same-Day Registration: No
• Restoration of Rights: 5 Years Post-Release from State Custody
• Vote by Mail: Excuse-Only
• Electronic Registration Information Center Member: No
• Early Voting Opportunities: Regular Ballot Early Voting
• ID Requirements: ID Requested, but not Required

Relying on the Cost of Voting Index for Louisiana as of 2024, we considered the state a bottom tier state for pre-existing voting policy and compared its 2024 activity against other bottom tier states. Last year, Louisiana was considered a middle tier state.

How Our Tier Compares

• COVI (2024): 34th
• EPI Score (2022): 48th
• CLC State Scorecard (2022): 6/10
• MAP Democracy Rating (2024): LOW

2024: This Past Year

Legislative Action

The Legislature passed a slew of new anti-voter restrictions during the 2024 regular session.

• HB 763 prohibits election officials from implementing any federal directive on elections or accepting new election funding without an explicit state or federal legal requirement to do so or prior approval of the Legislature. If any official accepts federal funds without proper approval, the attorney general can seek legal means to recover the funds. This bill requires time-consuming legislative review of new federal election guidance and funding and could lead to critical delays in the state’s response to new election threats.
• SB 436 requires new registrants to provide proof of citizenship when they register to vote.
• HB 476 bars individuals from returning more than a single ballot for a voter unless they are returning ballots for immediate family members.
• SB 155 criminalizes providing assistance to more than one voter unless the voter is an immediate family member.
• SB 218 bars individuals from returning more than a single mail ballot application for a voter unless they are returning an application for an immediate family member, prohibits distributing unsolicited mail ballot applications and requires poll workers to track anyone providing assistance to a voter at the polls.
• HB 581 makes it illegal to serve as a witness on more than one absentee ballot for any non-immediate family members and requires that all ballot witnesses be at least 18 years old and include their mailing address on the mail ballot certificate.
• HB 677 no longer requires registrars to confirm a voter’s death with the office of vital records before removing the voter from the rolls. Instead, the obituary notice can be sufficient to remove a voter’s name from the rolls. The bill also requires the Department of State, and not a parish registrar, to remove inactive voters from the rolls.
• SB 261 allows political parties to appoint watchers and “super watchers” in their local parish so long as at least 25% of the state’s voters are affiliated with the party and the party has at least 1 of their nominees on the ballot.
• HB 506 requires all organizations and individuals that register voters in the state to register with the secretary of state before they can begin conducting voter registration drives.
• HB 319 requires parishes to also include the reason for a polling place change when they provide notice of the change.
• HB 570 extends the deadline for a voter to change their party affiliation to 20 days before the election to line up with the voter registration deadline.
• SB 258 ensures that if a voter casts an absentee ballot by mail or early voting ballot and then dies before Election Day their ballot will be counted.
• SB 384 requires registrars to track why a voter’s mail or early vote ballot was rejected in the statewide voter registration system.
• SB 226 allows mail ballots to be automatically challenged if a mail ballot certificate is missing information that is not cured by the voter.
• SB 420 makes it illegal to commit election fraud and includes actions such as voting or attempting to vote more than once; voting or attempting to vote when unqualified to do so; and registering or voting under a false identity.
• HB 114 requires the Department of State to conduct an additional annual voter list canvass, in addition to the existing yearly canvass conducted jointly by local registrars and the department. The department must send address confirmation notices to all registered voters that have not voted, updated their address, or taken other election-related actions in the past 10 years. Voters that fail to respond are moved to the inactive voter list.

Special Session:
During the state’s special session in early 2024, the Legislature passed legislation to close the state’s primaries.

• HB 17 closes Louisiana’s primaries starting in January of 2026.

Executive Action