SLS 23RS-144 ORIGINAL
2023 Regular Session
SENATE BILL NO. 23
BY SENATOR BERNARD
Prefiled pursuant to Article III, Section 2(A)(4)(b)(i) of the Constitution of Louisiana.
VOTERS/VOTING. Requires approval by the secretary of state for the use and expands
permissible locations of alternative locations for early voting. (8/1/23)
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 18:1309(A)(2), relative to early voting locations; to require
3 approval by the secretary of state; to provide for location requirements; and to
4 provide for related matters.
5 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
6 Section 1. R.S. 18:1309(A)(2) is hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows:
7 ยง1309. Early voting; verification
8 A. * * *
9 * * *
10 (2) During the early voting period, the registrar shall maintain regular office
11 hours, remaining open from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Early
12 voting on each day of the early voting period shall terminate when all persons who
13 were in line to vote at the close of the regular office hours of the registrar's office,
14 as provided in this Paragraph, have been allowed to vote. If the secretary of state
15 determines the office space of the registrar is insufficient or inconvenient to
16 accommodate early voting, the registrar may provide for an alternate location to
17 conduct early voting, which location shall be in the courthouse or in a public
Page 1 of 2
Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 23
SLS 23RS-144 ORIGINAL
1 building in the immediate vicinity thereof an accessible and conveniently located
2 public facility within the parish, and in such case, adequate notice shall be posted
3 at the registrar's office informing the public of the location where early voting is
4 being conducted.
5 * * *
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Matt DeVille.
DIGEST
SB 23 Original 2023 Regular Session Bernard
Present law allows a registrar of voters to provide for an alternate location to conduct early
voting if the registrar's office space is insufficient or inconvenient to accommodate voters.
Proposed law requires the secretary of state to determine if the office space of a registrar of
voters is insufficient to conduct early voting and use of an alternative early voting location
is allowable.
Present law requires an alternate early voting location to be in the courthouse or in a public
facility in the immediate vicinity thereof.
Proposed law allows an alternate early voting location to be in an accessible and
conveniently located public facility within the parish.
Effective August 1, 2023.
(Amends R.S. 18:1309(A)(2))
Page 2 of 2
Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions.