Wednesday is last day to register in person for March 26 election

Wednesday is the last day to register to vote before the March 26 election, Registrar of Voters Byron Stelly said.

You can register at the Geaux Vote site through March 5.

Early voting will be March 12 through March 19, but there will be no voting Sunday, March 13. The hours will be 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. each day.

Regardless of where in St. Mary you live, you can vote early either at the St. Mary Parish Courthouse in Franklin or the Registrar of Voters Office at 301 Third St. in Morgan City.

Across the parish, only two of a possible six races developed when four candidates qualified without opposition.

Tammie Moore of Four Corners qualified alone for the St. Mary Parish School Board, filling a seat left vacant when Sylvia Lockett died last year. Moore has already been serving as Lockett's interim replacement.

Ray Dewey Sr. drew no opposition in his bid to succeed Sandra K. Turner on the Patterson City Council. Turner resigned in July because she was moving from the city limits

In Franklin, there will be two contested City Council races:

-Incumbent Lester "Motor" Levine Jr. is being challenged by Ian Jones Ruskoski for the at-large council seat.

--Ella Prevost Hamilton is running against incumbent Larry Guilbeau for the District C council seat.

Mayor Eugene Foulcard and councilmen James Robison, Chuck Autin and Joseph Garrison qualified without opposition.

Three proposed amendments to the Patterson home rule charter are on the March 26 ballot:

--One would require the mayor to have a high school degree or its equivalent.

--One would require the Police Chief to live in the city limits and to be Peace Officer Standards Training-certified.

--One would allow the police chief to receive a pay raise in the same four-year term in which the City Council votes for the raise. Currently, a raise or a cut in the chief's pay must wait until the end of the term in which the council makes the change. Even if the amendment passes, a pay cut could take effect only after the term in which the change is made.