Different rules will apply for La.'s presidential preference primary

Louisiana is one of a handful of states noted for choosing general election candidates with “jungle primaries,” in which all candidates run together in a primary regardless of party.
But that’s not the way the April 4 presidential preference primary will work.
If you want to take part in picking a major party presidential nominee, you’ll have to be registered as either a Republican or a Democrat, you can vote only in the primary for the party in which you’re registered, and if you're not registered already, you’ll have to be registered by March 4 in person or by mail.
You have until March 14 to register with the GeauxVote online system.
This is the word from the Secretary of State’s Office:
“The parties govern by their rules who can vote in the election. Presently only registered Democratic voters can vote in the Democratic Party primary, registered Republicans in the Republican Party primary, and registered Independents in the Independent Party primary. These primaries are closed to all other registered voters.”
Louisiana requires each party to have at least 40,000 registered voters to have a state-run primary.
The Secretary of State’s Office sample ballot for St. Mary contains only Democratic and Republican presidential primaries, plus Democratic state party posts and parish posts for both parties. No Independent primary is on the ballot.
Early voting will be 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. March 21-28 (except Sunday, March 22). The deadline to request an absentee ballot by mail is 4:30 p.m. March 31.
How much mystery will be left in the presidential nomination process when Louisiana votes isn’t clear yet.
Through the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, President Donald J. Trump hasn’t faced a serious reelection challenge. His best-known opponent is former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld.
The Democratic ballot is a long one and contains the name of candidates who have withdrawn, including Andrew Yang, Cory Booker and Michael Bennett.
Democratic voters will see New Hampshire Sen. Bernie Sanders and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, the front-runners after Iowa and New Hampshire. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar has also picked up momentum in the early steps toward the nomination.
They’ll also see former Vice President Joe Biden and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who have worn the front-runner mantle only to fade in the first two contests.
And the ballot will include former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the self-financing billionaire who has shaken up the race with a late entry.
There will be a lot of action before Louisiana’s primaries. The Nevada caucuses are Saturday, followed Feb. 29 by the South Carolina primary, seen as a test to see which Democrat can attract African American votes.
March 3 will be Super Tuesday, when 14 states plus American Samoa have primaries.
As of Feb. 1, St. Mary had 32,911 registered voters. Among them, 13,774 were registered as Democrats, 9,682 as Republicans and 9,455 as other or no party.
In 2016, St. Mary Democrats went for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a big way. She got 1,996 votes here, or 73%. Sanders got 20%.
Trump got 1,601 votes, or 53% of the Republican total to 29% for runner-up Ted Cruz of Texas.
Nationally, both primaries were dogged by allegations that party officials were rigging the system to favor of Clinton in the Democratic field and to hinder Trump in the Republican field.
In 2012, President Barack Obama got 805 St. Mary Democratic votes, or 77%. On the Republican side, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum got 854 votes, or 51%, to beat eventual nominee Mitt Romney’s 26%.