When you vote in the primary election this year, you won’t be able to choose from all candidates in all races. That’s because federal offices, the State Supreme Court, the Public Service Commission and BESE races have moved to closed primaries. Steven Procopio, the president of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, says double-check your voter registration card – whatever party affiliation is indicated is the ballot you will receive.
“If you’re Democrat, you’ll see Democratic candidates and you have to pick from those people. You won’t get the vote on Republican ones, and vice versa. If you’re a Republican, you’ll get the vote on the Republican candidate,” Procopio explained.
Procopio says if your voter registration card reads “no party affiliation,” then you actually get to choose which ballot you get to fill out.
“You’ll show up, they’ll send you to whatever line you want to go to, the Democratic or the Republican line, and you will vote at those party’s primaries,” Procopio said.
If you have no party affiliation and vote in one party’s primary, you cannot vote in the other party’s runoff. Those with no party affiliation who did not vote in the primary can vote in either party’s runoff. Procopio says those who are registered with third parties are out of luck.
“You’re looking at the Libertarians or the Green Party, things like that. They don’t get the vote in the party primaries. They just get the vote in the general election,” Procopio said.