Happy Thanksgiving!
Posted on 11/28/2002 4:07:02 AM PST by Theodore R.
Absentee voting for Dec. 7 runoff is brisk Larry Burton / The Times Posted on November 28, 2002 Louisiana's U.S. Senate election isn't until Dec. 7 but a slew of people aren't waiting until then to vote.
Registrars of voters across the state say absentee voting has been brisk this week. The lines at parish registrars' offices in Caddo and Bossier have occasionally spilled out the doors.
Some people are voting early so they can go hunting on election day, some registrars report. Another reason: Some voters hope to attend a possible LSU championship football game on Dec. 7, according to some registrars.
In Caddo Parish, Registrar Ernie Roberson theorized that some of the early voters have plans to be on the road visiting family and friends Dec. 7, since this is the holiday season.
Whatever the reason, the volume of absentee voting reflects a healthy interest in next month's runoff election pitting incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu against Republican challenger Suzanne Haik Terrell. The race is expected to be close.
More than 650 people had trekked to the Bossier Parish registrar's office to vote absentee from Monday through noon Wednesday. In Caddo Parish, 1,010 people voted absentee Monday and Tuesday, some by mail but probably 90 percent in person, Roberson said.
Parish registrars' offices will be closed today and Friday, state holidays for Thanksgiving, with absentee voting resuming from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Saturday is the last day for voting early in the Dec. 7 elections.
The Landrieu-Terrell race is the lone item on the ballot in Caddo and Bossier. Some Northeast and North Central Louisiana parishes will also select a U.S. representative to replace U.S. Rep. John Cooksey, a Republican in the 5th District. Voters in a few other select parishes will vote to fill the state House seat vacated by Rep. Jay McCallum, D-Farmerville, when he was elected to a judgeship earlier this year.
"It's been hectic," Bossier Registrar Janet Burks said Wednesday. "Our absentee voting has been much heavier than for most elections. We've hardly had time to look up from our work."
Said Roberson: "It has been pretty heavy considering just one thing is on the ballot. We have been busy."
Parish registrars say Senate absentee voting is brisk so far
Happy Thanksgiving!
It would seem that these people would lean toward Terrell.
But personally, I avoid absentee voting whenever possible - I just don't trust them to count it. To me, it is like buying something with a "mail-in rebate" - if you don't fill out the thing just right or send in the right UPC code, it doesn't count and you have no recourse.
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