ELECTION NEWS 11-2-08 La. Senate Race; 4th Cong Dist Runoffs Cause Confusion Among Voters
Sunday, Nov 02, 2008 4:15pm
SHREVEPORT, LA (By: Tom Pace, Executive Editor, Talk of the Town) BREAKING: 2008 VOTER NEWS: 6pm 11-2-08 Election Day, 2008 looms large on the horizon, just 2 days away ‘til November 4th, and possibly the biggest voter turnout ever in the nation’s history.
Hoping to avoid any confusion about who is eligible to vote in the federal open and closed primaries on this Tuesday’s ballot, Caddo Registrar of Voters Ernie Roberson offers some important news for area voters. Listen to Roberson’s interview with Tom Pace from the “Talk of the Town” below.
In addition to the federal Presidential election, Roberson says, there will also be two other federal elections: the U.S. Senate general election, and the 4th District Congressional Party Runoffs to replace our retiring Congressman, Jim McCrery.
Here is some further explanation on how the Senate and Congressional race are being structured using the open primary for Senate and a closed primary for Congress.
U.S. SENATE- Open Primary- you can cross party lines and vote for whomever you chose regardless of party or non-affiliation with a party. Just like all the local races it is an open primary. All voters are eligible to vote in this contest and for whomever they please to support.
U.S. CONGRESS– In this contest registered Republicans can only vote on the Republican candidates, because we are still in the runoff stage of this Closed Primary election due to Hurricane Gustav.
Meanwhile, Registered Democrats can only vote on the Democratic party candidates. The Louisiana Democratic party chose to allow voters who are no party, other party and non affiliated voters to vote in their primary.
There will also be a sign at each polling place explaining how this choice works for voters. This is the only “closed” primary or runoff election on the ballot. You will probably have your party affiliation confirmed by the poll commissioners so that the voting machine can be set for your choice of party affiliation.
You can check your party affiliation on the Registrar’s Website: www.CaddoVoter.org. Go to Register to Vote and scroll down to Polling Place Locator and click on that choice. You will need your name as registered and your date of birth. You can also find a map showing your polling place location.
Make sure you write down the number of your precinct as there may be multiple precincts at one polling place. You do not want to waste an hour in the wrong line to vote. This IS your responsibility as a voter; know where to vote and what your precinct number is on election day. This information is on your voter identification card.
All local races on the ballot are open primary and you can cross party lines to vote on the candidate of your choice.