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Story Archives: Voter participation encouraged


Voter participation encouraged
posted Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010 @ 10:42 pmE-mail Story E-mail Story | Print Story Print Story 
Early voting for the Oct. 2 election got under way over the weekend. It concludes Saturday.

Voters who desire to cast their ballots early for the Oct. 2 election can do so at the registrar of voters office at the Ouachita Parish Courthouse. Early voting is held from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.

In Ouachita Parish, voters will cast ballots on a number of local races including Ouachita Parish School Board, Monroe City School Board, Monroe City Court judge, Richwood Board of Aldermen, Sterlington mayor, Sterlington police chief and Sterlington Board of Aldermen. A special election to fill an unexpired term on the Monroe City Council is on the Oct. 2 ballot as well. Also, parish voters will decide the fate of a 2.91-mill property tax renewal for Green Oaks Detention Center, a 1.45-mill property tax renewal for G.B. Cooley Hospital and a host of road lighting district propositions.

Ouachita Parish voters will join their counterparts from across the state, too, in deciding a special election for lieutenant governor. The special election was called to fill a void that was created when Mitch Landrieu gave up the lieutenant governor's post after he was elected mayor of New Orleans earlier this year.

Two constitutional amendments will appear on the Oct. 2 ballot as well.

The two constitutional amendments were approved by state lawmakers in 2009, but moved to this year's ballot because there was no statewide election last year.

Constitutional Amendment 1, sponsored by Sen. Neil Riser, R-Columbia, would advance the start and end dates of the annual legislative sessions by about two weeks to give state agencies a better chance to adapt to new budgets and laws.

Constitutional Amendment 2, sponsored by Sen. Mike Walsworth, R-West Monroe, would allow more than 400 employees of the governor's emergency preparedness office to remain free of state Civil Service rules and protection, and end a year-old lawsuit filed by the state Civil Service Commission challenging the authority of the Legislature to exempt the office from Civil Service rules.

In years past, early voting was known as absentee voting. Absentee voting was conducted for voters who planned on being unavailable to vote on election day.

A few years ago, the Legislature lengthened the time voters could cast ballots prior to election day and began calling it early voting. The intent of the change was to gin up voter turnout in light of the decline in the number of people who were participating in elections. Results have been mixed.

Though early voting has not succeeded in dramatically increasing voter turnout, it has given voters ample time to participate in the democratic process. Take advantage of it.

We recognize that some voters may not believe casting ballots in elections for lieutenant governor or school board or some alderman position are important. They would be wrong, too.

Every election is important.
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