When people head to the polls on Nov. 3rd they will do so under an emergency plan released by Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin. The plan will require most people to vote in-person. He’s expecting 2.1 million people to participate in November, which would be around the 69-70% mark. Social distancing will be enforced at polling places and commissioners are going to be outfitted with gloves and face coverings. The person checking the voter in is going to have a desktop voter shield. And then we’ll also have gloves for the voters who want to use it or the finger covers, a lot of voters used the finger covers this last election cycle, and then face masks. He said his real concern with mail-in voting is whether or not the postal service can actually handle an increase of absentee balloting.
Two committees will have to approve the plan this week, then both houses of the Legislature and Governor Edwards. If it passes, it will ensure Louisiana is one of eight states to require an excuse for voters to obtain an absentee ballot; the rest of the states either mail all voters a ballot or make them available to everyone.
