Sept. 11 is deadline for voter registration

St. Mary Parish will soon be participating in state and parish elections Oct 12.
Polls on Oct. 12 will open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. All voters in line by 8 p.m. will be allowed to vote.
Voters must show a photo identification card with a photo and signature when voting, such as a driver’s license. If a voter does not have a photo identification card, a free Louisiana special identification card may be obtained by presenting a voter registration information card to the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles.
All polling locations have a 600-foot campaign-free zone. This means no one may wear any campaign shirt, hat, button or pin when voting.
For those wanting to participate in practicing their right to vote, you have to meet certain requirements.
You have to be at least 18, be a U.S. citizen either by birth or naturalization, not be under an order of imprisonment for conviction of a felony, not be under a judgment of full interdiction for mental incompetence or partial interdiction with suspension of voting rights. Finally, you have to reside in the state and parish in which you are registered.
Using the most recent census data and factoring in the negative growth rate St. Mary Parish is experiencing, the estimated population of St. Mary Parish in 2018, according to worldpopulationreview.com, was 49,774.
As of Aug. 1, the Louisiana secretary of state’s website shows 32,870 registered voters. The rolls included 13,977 Democrats, 9,517 Republicans and 9,376 as other parties.
For those that meet all other requirements, but are not registered, they have until Sept. 11 to register in person or by mail and until Sept. 21 to register online on Geaux Vote.
Registering to vote or changing a registration can be done using the Geaux Vote Online Registration System, which can be found at voterportal.sos.la.gov/voterregistration.
Once the application is completed, it can be either printed and mailed, or if verified by the Office of Motor Vehicles, submitted electronically. If a person plans to submit electronically, they must have their Louisiana driver’s license or Louisiana special ID card in hand when they begin the process. There is an audit code on the card that must be entered. The audit code is a four digit number labeled “audit” on the front of the license.
The Office of Motor Vehicles performs system maintenance 1-4 a.m. daily. During this time, the process may not be able to be completed electronically, but the print and mail functions will remain available.
Applications can also be done by mail by downloading the Louisiana Voter Registration Application or by downloading the National Mail Voter Registration Form which can be found at eac.gov/voters/national-mail-voter-registration-form/.
The application has to be completed and mailed to a local Registrar of Voters Office. For St. Mary Parish this is the Franklin Courthouse, 500 Main St. in Franklin.
Application in person can be done at any Registrar of Voters Office, Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles, Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services, WIC offices, food stamp offices, Medicaid offices, offices serving persons with disabilities such as the Deaf Action Centers and Independent Living Offices, or Armed Forces recruitment offices.
To register in person, a Louisiana driver’s license, birth certificate or other documentation which sufficiently establishes identity, age and residency must be presented.
Those registered to vote do not have to wait until the Oct 12 date to vote. Early voting will begin Sept. 28 through Oct. 5, with the exception of Sept. 29.
To vote early in St. Mary Parish, voters can go to the St. Mary Parish Courthouse at 500 Main Street in Franklin or to St. Mary Parish Annex Building at 301 Third Street in Morgan City.
For each day of early voting, the offices will be open from 8:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. Just like voting on Oct. 12, voters must have photo identification.
Voting can also be done by mail, but unless the voter is overseas or military, they must have a reason to be eligible to vote by these means.
To request a mail ballot, the voter must apply. Application requests can be submitted online at the Louisiana Voter Portal, voterportal.sos.la.gov/, or may be printed and mailed to the Registrar of Voters Office. The deadline to request a mail ballot is Oct. 8 and the deadline to have the ballot submitted is Oct. 11.
Applicants for a mail ballot will fall into one of three categories: General Application form, Disabled Application form, or Military or Overseas Application form.
Reasons for a General Application form include senior citizens over 65+, temporarily absent, offshore, nursing home, higher education, clergy, moved out of parish, involuntary confinement, hospitalized, incarcerated, address confidentiality program and juror.
Reasons for a Disability Application form include physical disabilities and homebound.
No cost is associated with registering to vote. It is a right afforded to individuals as a United States citizen by the U.S. Constitution.