Early voting will beheld May 2-9 for the May 16 party primary and municipal primary elections in St. Martin Parish, excluding Sunday, May 3.
The parish Registrar of Voters will open offices from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. for each day of early voting.
Voters will be asked to identify themselves with either a photo ID or signature on a voter affidavit.
Voters may use a Louisiana driver’s license, a Louisiana special identification card, a United States military identification card that contains the person’s name and picture or other generally recognized picture identification card that has the holder’s name and signature.
St. Martin Parish sites for early voting include the Registrar of Voters office at the St. Martin Parish Courthouse Annex (415 St. Martin St. in St. Martinville), the Stephensville Fire Station (1227 Stephensville Road) and the Sydnie Mae Durand Senior Citizen Center (391 Cannery Road, Breaux Bridge).
The Louisiana Legislature implemented Closed-Party Primaries through Act 1 of the 2024 First Extraordinary Session.
Act 1 outlines a process for Democrats, Republicans, and No Party voters to select a candidate to represent Louisiana’s two major political parties for certain elected offices. Unlike Louisiana’s current open primary elections (sometimes called Jungle Primaries), in a closed-party primary election, the candidates on a voter’s ballot will be limited to those of the voter’s party affiliation.
No Party voters who choose to participate in the Closed-Party Primary will be able to select a party’s ballot at their polling place and must stay with that party through any necessary runoff.
The eventual majority winner of a closed-party primary or primary runoff will advance to the general election to face candidates from other parties.
Early
The candidate with the greatest number of votes in the general election will be declared the winner, with no majority required. This rule only applies to offices with a closed-party primary.
The Legislature limited the Closed-Party Primary to the offices of the U.S. House, U.S. Senate, Louisiana Supreme Court, Public Service Commission, and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. All other ballot contests remain unchanged.
The Closed Primary ballot includes Democrat candidates for U.S. Senator including Nicholas “Nick” Albares, Gary Crockett and “Jamie” Davis; Democrat candidates for 3rd Congresionall District U.S. Representative John Day, Tia LeBrun and Caleb “With A C” Walker; and Republican Party candidates for U.S. Senator “Bill” Cassidy, John Fleming, Julia Letlow and Mark Spencer.
Open Primary races, in which all eligible voters may vote, include races in St. Martinville for Mayor with candidates Melinda Narcisse “Mel” Mitchell (Democrat), Lisa Nelson (Democrat), Mark Pratt (No Party) and incumbent Jason Willis (Democrat); District 1 City Council with candidates Brad Horton (Republican) and Marty Theriot (Republican); District 3 City Council candidates incumbent Jonas A. Fontenette (Democrat)and Patrick Wiltz (Democrat); and District 4 City Council candidates including incumbent Janise Anthony (Democrat), Monica Charles (Democrat) and Harold “Cat” Pickney (Democrat).
Five Constitutional amendments are also on the Open Primary ballot for all voters in the parish.
The Public Affairs Research Council (PAR) provided a guide to the Constitutional Amendments, explaining what each yes or no vote would mean.
Here is the PAR guide to Constitutional Amendments:
AMENDMENT 1 - JOB CREATION OUTSIDE THE CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM A vote for would allow lawmakers to remove state government jobs from the civil service system and its protections without needing approval from the Civil Service Commission.
A vote against would retain the current provisions requiring Civil Service Commission approval to exempt state jobs from the civil service system and its protections.
AMENDMENT 2 - NEW PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT IN EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH A vote for would authorize the creation of the St. George Community School System in East Baton Rouge Parish.
A vote against would keep the schools in the City of St. George in the East Baton Rouge Parish School System.
AMENDMENT 3 TRUST FUNDS ELIMINATED FOR RETIREMENT PAYMENT, TEACHER PAY
A vote for would dissolve three education trust funds and use the money to pay down retirement debt and give public school teachers and support workers a permanent raise.
A vote against would maintain the education trust funds and continue to distribute their investment earnings for early childhood education, K-12 schools and college programs.
AMENDMENT 4 PROPERTY TAXES ON BUSINESS INVENTORY
A vote for would allow local governments to lessen or eliminate property taxes on business inventory and receive a one-time payment if they stop charging the tax.
A vote against would Continue the current system for local governments to charge property taxes on business inventory.
AMENDMENT 5 MANDATORY RETIREMENT AGE FOR JUDGES A vote for would raise the mandatory retirement age for judges to 75 years old.
A vote against would keep the mandatory retirement age for judges at 70 years old.
