By james art BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – Early voting began on October 18th for the November 5th election, but the deadline is Tuesday, October 29th.
“It would be a shame if you just stayed home and didn’t exercise your civic duty to get out and vote,” said Erica Williams, second vice president of Baton Rouge Delta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. alumni.
The women’s society was one of many organizations Saturday outside Baton Rouge City Hall encouraging people to vote early.
“We’re not going to tell you who to vote for, we just want you to vote because it’s our civic duty, there’s a lot at stake for all of us and for everyone’s interests,” Williams added.
Others there were Bike N’ Vote, Power Coalition and Pumps to the Polls, whose founder, Cheri Thomas, says there are many benefits to early voting.
“With early voting, you can do it when it’s convenient for you, you can do it in places that are convenient for you in terms of time and place, and you don’t have to go to a specific place,” Thomas added.
She also says their goal is to encourage voter turnout. Nearly one million Louisiana voters cast ballots in early 2020, and as of Friday, more than 670,000 had cast ballots in that election with several days to go.
“Early voting definitely helps turnout because you have a few days to do it and so if something comes up there’s no barriers to stop you from voting,” Thomas explained, “all you have to do is bring your ID in the parish, I am registered and an early voter.’
More information about voting in your area can be found on the Secretary of State’s website.
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