Qualifying Feb. 11-13 for special Morgan City Council election
Qualifying will be Feb. 11-13 for offices up for a vote May 16, including a special election to fill a Morgan City Council seat.
Voters in Morgan City’s District 5 will pick someone to fill the post currently held on an interim basis by Thomas Hutchinson.
Hutchinson was appointed June 24 to fill the seat left vacant by Eriq Blanchard until the special election. Blanchard won the seat in the November 2024 election and resigned six months after being sworn in.
In Franklin, the mayor and City Council members will be on the May 16 ballot along with the justice of the peace in Ward 8.
The deadline for registering to vote in time for the May 16 election will be
April 15. The deadline to register through the GeauxVote Online Registration System is April 25.
Early voting will be 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. May 2-9 (excluding Sunday, May 3).
The elections involving U.S. senator and congressional races will operate in a new way. There will be closed primaries for certain offices.
Here’s the Secretary of State’s Office explanation:
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. The candidate with the greatest number of votes in the general 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.