Come Friday, the Independent Party will officially cease to exist as a recognized political party in Louisiana.
“There was a previous restriction on any recognized party using the term ‘Independent’ or ‘Independent Party,’” says Joel Watson, spokesman for the Louisiana Secretary of State’s office. “That law was changed in 2014, and we’ve reinstated that law this year.”
As of Friday, people who registered as “Independent” will have their affiliations changed.
“Those folks who are registered as ‘Independent’ — and there are about 150,000 of them across the state — will be changed to ‘no party,’” says Watson. “A lot of folks who are registered as Independents thought they were registered as unaffiliated or with no party at all. They didn’t realize they were becoming members of the Independent Party.”
The change is being made thanks to the passage of House Bill 420 in the legislative session; it passed unanimously in the Senate and passed in the House with only two “no” votes, one from each major party.
The main objective behind this change is so that voters with no allegiance to either the Republican or Democratic parties can vote in a closed primary.
“If your registered as no party, you can choose which of the two parties you wish to participate with,” Watson says. “However, you have to stick with that party through that runoff.”
In other words, you cannot vote in one party’s primary and the other party’s runoff.
Also, if you do not vote in either party’s primary, you can vote in either party’s runoff.
There are only five offices — six, if you count President of the United States — that now have closed primaries in Louisiana: U.S. Senate, U.S. House, Public Service Commission, State Supreme Court and the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE).
All other offices, including governor, will continue to be elected via the jungle primary, in which all candidates from all parties will appear together on a single ballot for all voters to select from.
