WASHINGTON (AP) – Louisiana voters on Saturday will decide the fate of four amendments to the state constitution in the final election of 2024.
These measures would change the way Louisiana judges handle spending bills in the Legislature and deal with delinquent taxpayers.
Amendment No. 1 would improve the process of investigating and punishing judges when they fail. It would expand the Judiciary Commission from nine to fourteen members by adding five politicians appointed by the speaker of the House, the president of the Senate and the governor. It would give the Supreme Court the power to authorize an investigation of a judge or discipline a judge through a majority vote of the court.
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Amendments 2 and 3 both give lawmakers more time to draft, review and consider implementing bills before they vote.
Amendment No. It was written after the 2023 legislative session, when lawmakers passed a $45 billion budget in the last 30 minutes before adjournment with little information about what the bill included.
Amendment No. 3 would allow lawmakers to extend the regular session of the Legislature by six days to complete and pass a spending bill.
Amendment No. Under current law, such properties may be subject to a compulsory sale. The amendment would replace that system with a tax lien system.
The proposal is in response to a 2023 ruling by the US Supreme Court that the state of Minnesota illegally seized the property of a 94-year-old Minneapolis woman without paying “just compensation.” After the ruling, the non-profit Louisiana State Law Institute said in a report to the legislature that existing Louisiana law could violate the ruling.
Saturday’s petitions require a majority vote to become law.
Here’s a look at what to expect:
Election day
Polls close at 9 pm EST.
What’s on the ballot
The Associated Press will provide the results of the votes and announce the winners of the constitutional amendment.
Who will vote
Anyone registered to vote in Louisiana can participate.
Choice notes
Louisiana has 64 counties, the largest of which are East Baton Rouge, Jefferson, Orleans, St. Tammany, Lafayette, Caddo, Calcasieu, Ouachita, Livingston and Tangipahoa. In the partisan races, East Baton Rouge, Orleans and Caddo are the largest Democratic strongholds in the state, while Jefferson, St.
Under Louisiana’s primary system, non-presidential candidates are cast together on the same ballot in the November 5th election regardless of party affiliation. In races where no candidate received the most votes, the top two vote-getters would have advanced to Saturday’s election. This proved inappropriate this year because each contest had a winner who received more than 50 percent of the vote.
With no other statewide or congressional races on the ballot, those heading into Saturday’s election will likely see a drop in turnout from Nov. 5. The Baton Rouge mayoral race could increase turnout in East Baton Rouge parishes.
The AP does not make predictions and announces the winner only when it is determined that no conditions will allow the pursuers to close the gap. If the race is not called, AP will continue to cover any news events, such as the approval of the candidates or the announcement of the victory. In doing so, AP will make it clear that it has not announced the winner and explain why.
There is no automatic recidivism in Louisiana. A voter may request and pay for a recount of absentee and original ballots in an election to be given a vote count. The AP may declare the winner of a race that is being recounted if it can determine that the lead is too large to change the recount or a legal challenge to change the results.
How does turnout and advance vote work?
As of November 1, there were more than three million registered voters in Louisiana. Of those, about 37 percent are registered Democrats and about 35 percent are registered Republicans. The remaining 28% are registered as independent or other parties.
About 66 percent of the people who registered to vote participated in the presidential election. It was about 70 percent in 2020 but dropped to 16 percent in the subsequent December elections, when constitutional reform was the only national contest on the ballot. The polling rate put before voters in December 2022 had about 14 percent of registered voters.
Votes cast before Election Day accounted for 33% of all votes cast in the 2019 and December 2022 elections.
As of Monday, nearly 94,000 votes had been cast before Saturday’s election, about 44 percent from Democrats and 44 percent from Republicans.
How long does it usually take to count the votes?
In the November 5 election, AP first announced results at 9: 06 pm EST, or six minutes after closing. The election night process ended at 11:56 pm EST with 99% of the votes counted.
Are we there?
As of Saturday, there will be 696 days until the 2026 midterm elections and 1,431 days until the 2028 general election.
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Read more about how US elections work at Explaining Election 2024, a series from The Associated Press aimed at helping to understand American democracy. The AP receives support from several private foundations to promote its interpretation of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is responsible for all content.