St. Mary early voting draws 3,300

St. Mary Parish’s overall early voter turnout for the general election was a bit heavier than for the primary.
Early voter turnout was pretty steady all week, said St. Mary Parish Registrar of Voters Jolene Holcombe. On Thursday, there was a heavier flow of voters due to the previous Veterans Day office closures.
Of the 3,316 early voters, 1,706 were Democrats, 1,193 were Republicans, and 417 people voted for other parties.
Whites accounted for 2,403 of the votes, 859 blacks voted and 54 people of other races voted. Statistics also revealed 1,489 men and 1,827 women voted early.
“We’re at 3,316 right now but we still have well over 200 outstanding mail ballots that we’re hoping to get a lot of those back,” Holcombe said.
“I think we will either equal what we did for the primary in the total absentee or may even go over it a little bit.”
The statewide early voting results totaled 257,021. There were 133,384 Democrats, 89,031 Republicans, and 34,606 other party affiliates reported voting early.
“Kind of hard to tell from early voting what election day turnout will be, it doesn’t always correlate one to the other,” Holcombe said. “Our official turnout for the primary turned out to be 41 percent, and I really don’t see us voting better than that for the general, unfortunately.”
Election day is Nov. 21. Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.
Both voter registration offices will be open on election day from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. for anyone who may have questions about their polling locations or need information.
The Franklin office is on the third floor of the courthouse. The Morgan City branch is at 301 Third St.
“I just hope people come out and vote,” Holcombe said.