Louisiana elections, 2012

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The state of Louisiana held elections in 2012. Below are the dates of note:

• Signature filing deadline: February 22, 2012
• Blanket primary date: November 6, 2012
• General election runoff date: December 1, 2012

On the 2012 ballot			Click here for all November 6, 2012 Election Results
U.S. Senate	d	Preview Article
U.S. House (9 seats)	a
State Executives (1 seat)	a	Preview Article
State Senate	d	N/A
State House	d
Ballot measures (9 measures)	a	Preview Article

2012 Elections

Note: Election information listed on this page does not pertain to 2012 presidential elections. For more about Ballotpedia's areas of coverage, click here.
For election results in the 50 states, see our November 6, 2012 election results page

Elections by type

• U.S. House
• State executives
• Ballot measures

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Louisiana, 2012

Louisiana lost a U.S. House seat from redistricting.

Members of the U.S. House from Louisiana -- Partisan Breakdown
Party		As of November 2012	After the 2012 Election
	Democratic Party	1	1
	Republican Party	6	5
Total		7	6

See also: Louisiana state executive official elections, 2012

There is one state executive position up for election.

• Louisiana Public Service Commission

Louisiana Public Service Commission General Election, 2012
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Scott Angele	57.2%	213,485
	Democratic	Forest Wright	20.5%	76,336
	Republican	Erich Ponti	11.6%	43,287
	Republican	Sarah Holliday	7.6%	28,214
	Independent	Greg Gaubert	3.2%	11,758
Total Votes				373,080
Election Results via Louisiana Secretary of State.

See also: Louisiana 2012 ballot measures

Type	Title	Subject	Description	Result
LRCA	Amendment 1	Health care	Protects the state medicaid trust fund for the elderly from budget cuts.	a
LRCA	Amendment 2	Firearms	Adds additional constitutional protections to state gun rights.	a
LRCA	Amendment 3	Administration of Gov't	Requires more advance filing for bills involving public employee retirement	a
LRCA	Amendment 4	Taxes	Provides property tax exemptions to certain veterans' spouses	a
LRCA	Amendment 5	Law	Allows the legislature to deny retirement benefits to any public employee or official who commits a felony related to their office	a
LRCA	Amendment 6	Taxes	Authorizes the city of New Iberia to grant contracts for the exemption of property annexed by the city	d
LRCA	Amendment 7	Administration of Gov't	Restructures the composition of constitutional boards and commissions	a
LRCA	Amendment 8	Taxes	Allows local governments to opt-in to property tax exemptions for certain businesses	a
LRCA	Amendment 9	Laws	Established certain requirements prior to legislatively creating certain special districts	a

Eligibility to Vote

Primary election

See also: Voting in the 2012 primary elections

Louisiana is one of 19 states to use an open primary system. Voters must have been registered 30 days prior to the election in order to vote. (Information about registering to vote)

General election

See also: Voting in the 2012 general elections

The deadline to register to vote is 30 days prior to the election day, which in 2012 was October 31 for the December 1st general election.

• Voter ID info
• Residency requirements: Reside in Louisiana and in parish
• Same-day registration: None

Voting absentee

See also: Absentee Voting

Eligibility

You are eligible to vote absentee in an election if you cannot make it to the polls on election day for one of the following reasons:

• you are in the military, the dependent of military personell, or an overseas citizen;
• you are 65 years of age or older;
• you are at home or a nursing or veterans' home resident and you have been previously approved for the Disability Program, or you are disabled, homebound or a nursing or veterans' home resident. You must submit one of three kinds of current proof of disability with your application:

• a copy of a mobility impaired identification card issued by the Office of Motor Vehicles;
• a copy of social security disability benefits, veteran’s disability benefits, paratransit services, benefits from the Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities, or benefits from Louisiana Rehabilitation Services; or
• a physician’s letter certifying your disability (this is required for a new homebound or nursing home application).

• you are a student, instructor, or professor located and living outside of your parish of registration, or the spouse/dependent thereof (if you are a student voting for the first time, you must include a copy of your student ID);
• you are a minister, priest, rabbi, or other member of the clergy assigned outside of your parish of registration, or the spouse/dependent thereof;
• you are or expect to be temporarily outside the territorial limits of the state or absent from your parish of registration during the early voting period and on election day (if you request a ballot to be mailed to an address within the parish, you must indicate the dates you will be temporarily absent from the state/parish);
• you moved your residence to another parish more than 100 miles from the parish seat of your former residence after the voter registration books closed (30 days prior to the election);
• you are involuntarily confined in an institution for mental treatment outside your parish of registration and you are not interdicted and not judicially declared incompetent;
• you expect to be hospitalized on election day and you did not have knowledge until after the time for early voting had expired; or you were hospitalized during the time for early voting and you expect to be hospitalized on election day; or you were either hospitalized or restricted to bed by your physician during early voting and on election day;
• you expect to be out of your precinct of registration and upon the waters of the state both during the early voting period and on election day because of your employment or occupation;
• you are incarcerated in an institution inside or outside of your parish of registration and you are not under an order of imprisonment for conviction of a felony (you must attach a certification of the sheriff with your application);
• you are a program participant in the Department of State Address Confidentiality Program; or
• you will be sequestered on the day of the election (you must attach a certified copy of the court order of sequestration with your application).

Deadlines

To vote absentee a request must be received no earlier than 60 days prior to the election and no later than 4 days prior. The ballot must then be returned by 4:30pm on the day before the election.

Military and overseas voting

For full details, visit the Federal Voting Assistance Program here.

Voting early

See also: Early voting

Louisiana is one of 33 states that has early voting with no specific requirements as to who can vote early. Early voting begins 14 days before an election and ends 7 days prior to election day. The average number of days prior to an election that voters can cast an early ballot is 21 days in states with a definitive starting date.

See also

• Statewide elections, 2012
• 2012 election dates
• Election result resources
• Voter guides
• State Blue Books
• State Poll Opening and Closing Times (2012)
• Voting in Louisiana
• Absentee voting
• Early voting