Absentee Voting, By Mail (R.S. 18:1303 & R.S. 18:1307)

To request absentee ballots by mail, complete and return a Request for Absentee Ballot by Mail PDF form indicating the reason you are not able to vote in person, either during early voting or on election day. Return the form to your parish Registrar of Voters. For the deadlines to request and return an absentee by mail ballot, go to Election Dates.

A request for a mail-in absentee ballot may be applied for by the following persons:

1. members of the United States Armed Service or a spouse or dependent;
2. students, instructors, or professors in an institution of higher learning located outside of their parish of registration, and live outside of their parish, or spouses or dependents accompanying and residing therewith;
3. ministers, priests, rabbis, or other members of the clergy assigned to a religious post outside of their parish of registration, or spouses or dependents accompanying and residing therewith;
4. those who are or expect to be temporarily outside the territorial limits of the state or outside of their parish of registration during the early voting period and on election day;
5. those who have moved their residences to another parish more than 100 miles from the parish seat of their former residence after voter registration books closed;
6. those who are involuntarily confined in an institution for mental treatment outside of their registration parish and who are not interdicted and not judicially declared incompetent;
7. those who are residing outside the United States;
8. those who expect to be hospitalized on election day and either were hospitalized or expect to be hospitalized during the early voting period, or did not learn that they would be hospitalized until after the early voting period expired, or were hospitalized and released but restricted to bed by their physician during the early voting period and on election day;
9. those who expect to be out of their precinct upon the waters of the state both during the early voting period and on election day because of their employment or occupation (e.g., working offshore);
10. those who are approved for the Special Handicap Program and are living at home, not in a nursing home;
11. those who are incarcerated in an institution inside or outside their parish of registration and are not under an order of imprisonment for conviction of a felony;
12. those who are 65 years of age or older; or
13. those who have a mobility impaired identification card issued by the office of motor vehicles (include a copy of mobility impaired i.d. card with your application).

If I request an absentee ballot by mail, will I be guaranteed to receive a ballot?

The registrar must verify that you are a qualified voter in order to send you a ballot. If your eligibility cannot be verified, then you will be notified in writing and you will not receive a ballot. Some reasons your request for an absentee ballot may be rejected are:

• Your request for an absentee ballot was received too early; the earliest a request for an absentee ballot can be accepted is 60 days prior to the election.
• Your request for an absentee ballot was received too late; the request deadline is four days before election day.
• If you registered by mail and have not previously voted in the parish where you registered, you must vote in person either during the early voting period or at the precinct on election day.
• You requested an absentee ballot from a parish or district/precinct where you are not registered to vote.
• You registered after the voter registration books were closed 30 days prior to election day.
• Your request for an absentee ballot was incomplete.

If I receive an absentee ballot, how do I vote it and return it?

Along with the ballot, you will receive a sheet of instructions concerning how to vote and return your ballot. The ballot itself also contains instructions that must be followed to mark the ballot.

May I vote by fax?

If you feel that you won’t have time to vote by mail, you may request that the Registrar of Voters send you a ballot by fax. The registrar of voters will send you a ballot, affidavit, and statement waiving your right to a secret ballot. You can then mail your voted ballot, affidavit, and waiver to the registrar -- OR -- you can fax them to the registrar after signing a waiver of the right to a secret ballot. There are special provisions for U.S. military or oversees citizens.

Will my absentee ballot be counted? How are absentee ballots counted?

• The Parish Board of Election Supervisors, along with absentee commissioners, are responsible for counting absentee ballots. The Parish Board of Election Supervisors consists of: the clerk of court, the registrar of voters, the chairman of the democratic parish executive committee, the chairman of the republican parish executive committee, and a governor’s appointee.
• Absentee ballots are counted unless successfully challenged.
• They are counted in public no earlier than 1:00 p.m. and no later than 8:00 p.m. on Election Day.
• If you choose to attend the absentee ballot counting, you may not leave the public facility until the count is completed and the polls are closed.
• Absentee ballots may be challenged by a candidate or his representative, a member of the Parish Board of Election Supervisors, or a qualified elector, for the following grounds:
  • the applicant is not qualified to vote in the election.
  • the applicant is not qualified to vote in the precinct.
  • the applicant is not the person whose name is shown on the precinct register.
• The challenge is required to be in writing and filed with the registrar on or before the fourth day before the election for which the ballot is challenged.

Returning voted ballots:

Deadlines for returning your voted ballots to the Registrar of Voters office for an election are as follows:

• Military Personnel: Election Day
• U.S. Citizens residing outside the U.S.: Election Day
• All others: Day before Election Day