Louisiana’s primary election for the Republican presidential nomination has been scheduled for March 24, and many residents worry the late primary date will lessen Louisiana’s voice in the discussions concerning the Republican nomination.
A late-March primary means the state will vote much later than it did in 2008, when Louisiana’s primary was in February.
During the 2008 election cycle, Super Tuesday — the date when the greatest number of states hold primary elections to select delegates — was on Feb. 5, and because Louisiana’s primary was Jan. 22, the state was one of several early voting states that year.
But with 2012’s Super Tuesday slated for March 6, Louisiana will be unable to voice its opinion prior to a number of other states, including Georgia, Massachusetts and Virginia.
Greg Huete, ISDS senior and president of LSU Youth for Ron Paul, said he believed the Republican Party attempted “to strong-arm Louisiana into moving its [primary] date back to neuter the impact of our vote on other states.”
According to Jason Doré, executive director of the Republican Party of Louisiana, the date of the primary was set by the Legislature and selected after consulting both the Republican and Democratic parties to avoid violating the national committees’ policies. 
With the primary after Super Tuesday, political science professor Belinda Davis said Louisianians’ say will have little impact on the national front. 
“We’re pretty far back in the process that the nominee will likely already be selected,” she said. 
Huete believes the date change was unfair.
“As a student who appreciates LSU’s importance rising on the national stage, it is disappointing to diminish the impact of our state’s vote on the outcome of the nomination,” he said.
Primaries, similar to general elections, allow statewide voters to submit their votes at polling places. This differs from caucuses, which are local gatherings where voters select the delegates who will actually support the candidate at the Republican National Convention, when the party’s nomination is solidified.
Louisiana’s caucus, which has been pushed back to April 28, will include delegation elections for six congressional districts. That’s down from seven districts, as it has been in years past, because of the 2010 Census, which eliminated three delegates.
 
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Contact Kate Mabry at [email protected]