For Immediate Release: September 8, 2021 

Baton Rouge, LA– On September 8, ten days after Hurricane Ida made landfall, Governor John Bel Edwards approved Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin’s emergency election plan, pushing the fall elections back by a month. The primary election will now be Saturday, November 13 and the runoff election will take place on Saturday, December 11. 

“We want to thank the Governor and Secretary of State for making this decision,” says Ashley Shelton, CEO of Power Coalition for Equity and Justice. “Recovery from this devastating storm needs to be the priority of our communities right now. By delaying the election we can ensure that more people will be able to participate in democracy.”

The Secretary of State’s office cited damage to polling locations, displaced election workers, and that the storm affected 42% of the state’s voters as drivers of this decision. 

“There are 4 statewide Constitutional Amendments on the ballot this fall that will impact Louisiana residents for years to come and postponing the election will allow more people to exercise their right to cast their vote,” says Shelton.  

This is the second year in a row that Louisiana has exercised an emergency election plan. The emergency election plan in 2020 extended early voting and vote by mail options due to the COVID-19 pandemic. There was the highest number of early voters ever recorded in Louisiana with nearly one million people voting early, demonstrating that people want to vote and in the face of disaster need extra accommodations.  

Postponing the election means early voting and voter registration deadlines have also changed. The new dates are as follows: 

November 13: Open Primary/Orleans Municipal Parochial Primary/State Representative, District 16 and 102 Special Primary/State Senate, District 27 Special Primary Election

• The deadline to register to vote in person or by mail is Oct. 13 and the deadline to register to vote online is Oct. 23.Early voting will take place Oct. 30 through Nov. 6 (excluding Sunday, Oct. 31) from 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. 

December 11: Open General/Orleans Municipal Parochial General Election

• The deadline to register to vote in person or by mail is Nov. 10 and the deadline to register to vote online is November 20. Early voting will take place November 27 through December 4 (excluding Sunday, Nov. 28) from 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m. 

Contacts: Ashley Shelton, President, Founder, CEO of Power Coalition, (225) 802- 2435, ashelton@powercoalition.org

Morgan Shannon, Director of Strategic Partnerships, (504) 214 – 3040, mshannon@powercoalition.org