Voters advised to do homework before visiting polls

Polls open at 6 a.m. Tuesday for elections ranging from U.S. senator and representatives to municipal and St. Mary Parish School Board elections.
Also on the ballot are 14 constitutional amendments and four parish home rule charter amendments propositions.
Registrar of Voters Jolene Holcombe advised voters to bring picture identification and to be prepared before going to the polling place.
With the size of the ballot, voters won’t have much time to read and only are allowed three minutes in the voting booth, Holcombe said.
“Our recommendation is that they do their homework before they vote,” Holcombe said.
She said she is encouraging voters to bring sample ballots already filled out into the voting booth with them.
“A long ballot makes for long lines,” she said.
Sample ballots still are available at the Registrar of Voters office.
Secretary of State Tom Schedler said sample ballots also can be reviewed by downloading the GeauxVote Mobile app for smartphones or by visiting www.sos.la.gov.
Election results can be viewed in real-time via the GeauxVote Mobile app and the Secretary of State’s website, www.sos.la.gov.
“We anticipate a strong turnout on Tuesday across the state,” Schedler said in a news release. “This is an election like no other for Louisiana in terms of the size of the election, the anticipated turnout and the national media attention surrounding our U.S. Senate race. I encourage everyone to go exercise their right to vote and to educate themselves on the candidates and the issues before going to the polls so we can minimize wait times. Every vote counts, so Geaux Vote!”
Over 3,000 St. Mary residents already have cast their ballots for Tuesday’s election.
As of Tuesday, the final day of early voting, 1,591 Democrats voted; 1,034 Republicans have voted; and 443 no party voters have cast ballots. A total of 2,175 white voters have cast ballots; 838 black voters have cast ballots; and 55 voters of other races have cast ballots. Voters were divided between 1,414 men and 1,654 women.
Comparing the final tally of early voting for the Nov. 4 election to the same day of voting for Oct. 22, 2011, voting is a bit slower this year with 3,068 votes cast.
The two elections had a comparable slate of state and local candidates on the ballot.
According to information provided by Holcombe, there were 368 more votes cast in 2011 than this year.
There are 33,498 registered voters in St. Mary Parish. Of them, Holcombe said there are 16,441 Democrats, 8,130 Republicans and 8,927 registered as something other than the two major parties.
Only two candidate elections are on every St. Mary Parish ballot. They are U.S. senator and representative. Other parishwide issues are 14 constitutional amendments and four home rule charter propositions.
Ballot issues
The following issues are on the ballot in St. Mary Parish:
—United States Senator.
—United States Representative, 3rd Congressional District.
—Judge, 16th Judicial District, Election Section 1, Division G & H.
—Judge, 16th Judicial District, Election Section 2, Division A.
—Justice of the Peace, Wards 2, 5, 7, 8 and 10.
—Constable, Wards 4, 5, 9 and 10.
—Mayor, Town of Baldwin.
—Aldermen, Town of Baldwin (five to be elected).
—Chief of Police, Town of Baldwin.
—Mayor, Town of Berwick.
—Councilmen, Town of Berwick (five to be elected).
—Mayor, City of Patterson.
—Councilmembers, City of Patterson (five to be elected).
—Chief of Police, City of Patterson.
—St. Mary Parish School Board Member, District 9.
—Constitutional Amendments (14).
—Parishwide Home Rule Charter Amendments Propositions (four).