Your vote matters—in your local, state, and federal elections, wherever you may be registered to vote, regardless of your permanent residence.
But are you SURE you are registered? You cannot vote if you are not registered!
Our LSU Law students hail from 24 states, but about 75% of you are from either Louisiana or Texas—with that in mind we bring you the following PSA on voter registration and absentee ballot information for Texas and Louisiana. The remaining 25% of you should refer to https://vote.gov/ for more information on deadlines and other details if you are retaining your voter registration in another state.
You can confirm your registration status in Louisiana online at https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/. Texas voter registration status can be checked at https://teamrv-mvp.sos.texas.gov/MVP/mvp.do. And registration status in other states can be confirmed at https://www.usa.gov/election-office.
For the November 3 elections:
Louisiana deadlines:
Registering by mail: Postmarked by Monday, Oct. 5
Registering in person: Monday, Oct. 5
Registering online: Tuesday, Oct. 13
You can register online at https://www.sos.la.gov/ElectionsAndVoting/RegisterToVote/Pages/default.aspx
Absentee or mail-in-voting:
Requesting a ballot by mail: Receipt of a request by Friday, Oct. 30 (But do it much sooner in light of the deadline to return it! There is limited mail-in balloting in Louisiana, but students in higher ed may qualify, see link below.)
Voted ballots must be received by your parish registrar of voters by 4:30 p.m. CST on the day before election day.
Higher Education and voting by mail: If you are a student, instructor or professor located and living outside of your parish of registration, or the spouse/dependent thereof, you may apply through a General Application and once accepted by the registrar of voters, vote by mail. https://www.sos.la.gov/electionsandvoting/vote/votebymail/pages/default.aspx
Early voting runs from Tuesday, Oct. 20, to Tuesday, Oct. 27, but dates and hours may vary based on where you live and the specific early voting location. Check local information.
Texas deadlines:
Registration:
Registering by mail: Postmarked by Monday, Oct. 5
Registering in person: Monday, Oct. 5
Registering online: N/A
You can use this website to fill out a form to then print and mail in: https://vrapp.sos.state.tx.us/index.asp
Absentee ballots:
Request by: Friday, October 23 (why wait?)
Return by mail: Postmarked by November 3 (but why wait?)
Early voting runs from Oct. 13 to Oct. 30, but dates and hours may vary based on where you live and the specific early voting location. Check local information.
