BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry announced that the Department of State’s 2026 legislative package for the upcoming Regular Legislative Session continues her focus on strengthening Louisiana’s strong election integrity and security laws.

“Louisiana has made tremendous progress over the past two years in strengthening the security and integrity of our elections,” Secretary Landry said. “Working with the Legislature, these measures will help us continue to protect voters, maintain accurate voter rolls, and ensure confidence in the integrity of Louisiana’s elections.” 

The Department’s bill package includes:

• HB691 by Representative Beau Beaullieu;
• HB547 by Representative Polly Thomas; and
• SB319 by Senator Thomas Pressly.

HB 691 by Rep. Beaullieu helps maintain the integrity of Louisiana’s voter rolls by checking it against the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program to identify potential noncitizen matches.

HB 547 by Rep. Thomas prevents individuals from photographing, recording, or reproducing voter registration information in precinct registers. This protects voters who have not voted yet from intimidation tactics, as well as helps prevent attempts to vote under another’s name.

SB 319 by Sen. Pressly provides specific ways to positively verify the identity of those individuals who come to vote. This bill also adds additional ways for individuals who might not have their picture ID available to verify their identity so they can vote.

Together, these measures are designed to strengthen election integrity and security while protecting eligible voters.

Louisiana currently ranks 4th in the country in election integrity, according to the Heritage Foundation, moving up from ninth place in the last two years due to reforms by the Secretary of State and legislators. Arkansas and Tennessee are tied for first, followed by Alabama in third.

The rankings evaluate states across 14 categories, including voter ID implementation, accuracy of voter registration lists, absentee ballot management, vote counting practices, and verification of citizenship.

Secretary Landry will be available for 10 minute interviews by credentialed media via phone, virtually, or in-person at the Secretary of State’s Office on Wednesday, March 15 from 3-4:30 p.m. Interested media outlets can contact Trey Williams at [email protected] or 225-922-0820 to schedule a time to speak with Secretary Landry.

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BATON ROUGE, La. — Qualifying for the May 16 Party Primary and Municipal Primary Election will be held beginning tomorrow, Feb. 11 through Friday, Feb. 13.

All closed party primary candidates for the following state and federal offices will qualify at the Louisiana State Archives located at 3851 Essen Lane in Baton Rouge from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.:

• United States Senate
• United States Representative, Districts 1 – 6
• Associate Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, Districts 1, 3, and 4
• Public Service Commission, Districts 1 and 5
• Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, District 1

Per Act 1 of the 2024 First Extraordinary Session, the Louisiana Legislature voted to change to a closed party primary system for the following offices: U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, Louisiana Supreme Court, Public Service Commission (PSC), and Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE).

Local and municipal candidates must qualify with the clerk of court in the parish in which they are registered to vote. Candidates are encouraged to check with their local clerk of court for specific parish hours.

For more information on qualifying, visit the Secretary of State’s website at www.sos.la.gov or call the Elections Hotline at 800-883-2805.

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BATON ROUGE, La. — “An article in the Louisiana Illuminator, an online media outlet, regarding congressional maps published last week, and later shared by other news sources, advances a false narrative based on irresponsible and misleading legal speculation,” stated Trey Williams, Deputy Secretary of State for Communications and Policy. “The Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office was not contacted prior to its publication. The media made legal conclusions and attributed a timeline to the U.S. Supreme Court that the Court itself has not yet made. The Secretary of State will abide by the law and the orders of the Court.”

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BATON ROUGE, La. — The Secretary of State’s Office announces emergency changes to the qualifying process for two party primary offices pursuant to the Governor’s order. This was necessitated by recent vacancies on the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, District 1, previously held by Member Paul Hollis, and on the Louisiana Supreme Court, District 1, previously held by Justice Will Crain.

The following parishes will be affected by these calls for special elections:

State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, District 1: Jefferson, Orleans, St. Tammany, and Tangipahoa

Louisiana Supreme Court, District 1: Livingston, Orleans, St. Bernard, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Washington

Due to the shortened timeline for gathering signatures on a nominating petition, emergency modifications to the process have been implemented by Governor Jeff Landry’s proclamations 79 JML 2025 and 80 JML 2025. Candidates seeking to qualify via a nominating petition will have until January 30, 2026, to collect 150 signatures of voters within the affected districts and return their petition to the proper Registrar(s) of Voters for certification. The nominating petition for these two offices can be found on the Secretary of State’s website at https://sos.la.gov/ElectionsAndVoting/PublishedDocuments/2026.

The special elections for these vacancies will follow the party primary timeline established by Act 1 of the 2025 First Extraordinary Session of the Legislature:

Deadline to submit nominating petition signatures: JANUARY 30, 2026

Qualifying dates: FEBRUARY 11-13, 2026

Party Primary: MAY 16, 2026

Second Party Primary, if necessary: JUNE 27, 2026

General Election: NOVEMBER 3, 2026

Any candidates with questions regarding these changes may call the Elections Hotline at 800-883-2805 or contact the Registrar of Voters or Clerk of Court in their parish. The public is also encouraged to visit geauxvote.com/cpp for more information on qualifying and the party primary process.

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