Voting for the First Time

To register in Louisiana you must:

• Be a U.S. citizen.
• Be at least 17 to register (16 if you register in person at the registrar's office or the OMV). You must be 18 to vote.
• Live in the parish where you register, at a street or rural route address. A P.O. box does not count.

For this election, the deadline to register in person, by mail, or at the OMV was October 5. You can still register online through GeauxVote until October 13 if you have a Louisiana driver's license or state ID.

1. Oct 5Register in person, by mail, or at the OMVDeadline has passed for this election.
2. Oct 13Register online through GeauxVoteOnline registration needs a Louisiana driver's license or state ID. Register online
3. Oct 20–27Early voting8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, except Sunday, October 25.
4. Oct 30Request a mail ballotBy 4:30 p.m., if you qualify to vote by mail.
5. Nov 2Mail ballot must reach the registrarBy 4:30 p.m. Military and overseas voters have different deadlines.
6. Nov 3Election DayPolls open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. If you are in line at 8 p.m., you can vote.

Bring a photo ID, such as a Louisiana driver's license or state ID card. If you do not have one, you can sign a voter identification affidavit at the polls instead, though a vote cast that way can be challenged.

Any registered voter can get a free Louisiana special ID card at the Office of Motor Vehicles by showing their voter information card. You can print your voter information card from the Voter Portal.

Your polling place is on your voter information card. You can also look it up on the Louisiana Voter Portal, in the GeauxVote app, or by calling the Caddo Parish Registrar of Voters. Polls are open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. If you are in line at 8 p.m., you can still vote.

Your ballot depends on your districts. The Voter Portal shows your exact sample ballot. Use our ballot builder to read about each race and mark your choices before you go.

You can do all of this by phone. These offices answer voter questions.

• 318-226-6891Caddo Parish Registrar of Voters
  Registering, checking your registration, and mail ballots
• 318-226-6788Caddo Parish Clerk of Court, Elections
  Other election questions

You pick a party, or no party, when you register. If you write "Independent," you are registered as No Party. In this election every voter gets the same choices regardless of party: the U.S. House and local races are open primaries, and the U.S. Senate race is a general election.

Louisiana now holds closed party primaries in the spring for U.S. Senate, state Supreme Court, Public Service Commission, and BESE. In those, Democrats and Republicans vote in their own party's primary, and No Party voters can choose one of the two.