Election Day, Nov. 2, is not a federal holiday. Neither theUniversity nor your employers are required to let you off to govote during the 14 hours the polls are open, from 6 a.m. to 8p.m.
Never fear — you can vote without stepping a foot into thepolls Nov. 2.
It’s called absentee voting, and it’s a great optionfor University students consumed with class and othercommitments.
All you have to do is request an absentee ballot from yourparish registrar of voters. The registrar of voters will send you aballot in the mail. Then you send the ballot back to the registrarto have our vote counted.
But be careful. You can only vote by absentee ballot if youalready have physically voted at a polling place.
If you haven’t ever voted in person, but can’t voteNov. 2, there’s still hope for you.
Each parish registrar of voters holds early voting at least aweek before each election. This allows voters to come into theregistrar’s office and vote by machine. Contact your parishregistrar of voters for more information on early voting.
If you’re not from East Baton Rouge parish and want tomaintain registration in your home parish, absentee voting makesthat easy.
If you’re not from Louisiana and want to maintainregistration in your home state, absentee voting makes that easy,too. Most states do not have the same restrictions on absenteevoting as Louisiana, so you may be able to vote by absentee ballotin your first election.
Students who need more information on out-of-state registrationand absentee voting should contact their home state’sSecretary of State.
And don’t forget the deadline to register to vote inLouisiana is Oct. 4. The deadline to request an absentee ballot isthe week before the election — but you ought to do it beforethen.