Early voter turnout strong for Nov. 21 election

In St. Mary Parish, the first two days of early voting for the gubernatorial general election have seen 163 more voters cast ballots than did for the primary election.
“It looks like we are trending towards having more voters every day than we did for the primary,” St. Mary Parish Registrar of Voters Jolene Holcombe said. “I think it’s going to be a bigger turnout.”
With the governor’s race now whittled down to two candidates, people may have decided they now want to vote, Holcombe said.
The gubernatorial runoff is between state Rep. John Bel Edwards, D-Amite, and U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-Metairie.
Despite rainy weather Saturday, St. Mary Parish still had a strong turnout on the first day of early voting.
“We were a little surprised because even with the bad weather they just kept coming in,” Holcombe said.
As of the end of Monday’s voting, a total of 971 voters had cast their ballots in St. Mary Parish. On Saturday, 476 voters cast ballots with 213 people voting in Franklin and 263 voting in Morgan City.
On Monday, 481 people voted with 236 ballots cast in Franklin and 245 votes cast in Morgan City.
The first day of early voting for the Oct. 24 gubernatorial primary saw 419 voters cast ballots in the parish, while the second day saw 320 people vote.
So far, 718 white voters, 236 black voters and 10 voters of other races have cast ballots in the gubernatorial general election. Four hundred fifty-six male voters and 508 female voters have voted. Four hundred seventy-three Democrats, 367 Republicans and 124 other-party voters cast ballots as of the end of Monday.
Polls were closed Sunday and will also be closed Wednesday for Veterans Day.
Early voting continues through Nov. 14. Early voting hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. St. Mary Parish residents can vote early at the Registrar of Voters Office on the third floor of the courthouse in Franklin or at the registrar’s Morgan City branch office, 301 Third St.