Louisiana Amendment 3, Classified Civil Service Employee Public Support of Family Members' Campaigns Measure (2022)

Louisiana Amendment 3
Election date November 8, 2022
Topic Elections and campaigns and Civil service
Status d Defeated
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

Louisiana Amendment 3, the Classified Civil Service Employee Public Support of Family Members' Campaigns Measure, was on the ballot in Louisiana as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022. The measure was defeated.

A "yes" vote supported allowing classified service/civil service employees to publicly support the election campaigns of individuals in their immediate family when off duty.

A "no" vote opposed allowing classified service/civil service employees to publicly support the election campaigns of individuals in their immediate family when off duty.

Election results

Louisiana Amendment 3
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		434,549	32.81%
No		890,055	67.19%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Overview

What would Amendment 3 have done?

See also: Ballot language and constitutional changes

Under the Louisiana Constitution, going into the election, classified civil service employees were prohibited from the following:

• engaging in political activity;
• being a candidate for nomination or election to public office;
• being a member of any national, state, or local committee of a political party or faction; and
• making or soliciting contributions for any political party, faction, or candidate; or take active part in the management of the affairs of a political party, faction, candidate, or any political campaign.

The amendment would have amended the state constitution to allow classified civil service employees in Louisiana to publicly support (by appearing in campaign advertisements, photographs, or attending campaign events) the election campaigns of individuals in their immediate family when off duty. Under the amendment, immediate family would have included a person's parent, stepparent, grandparent, step-grandparent, spouse, spouse's parent or stepparent, child and child's spouse, stepchild and stepchild's spouse, grandchild and grandchild's spouse, step-grandchild and step-grandchild's spouse, sibling and sibling's spouse, stepsibling and stepsibling's spouse, half sibling, and half-sibling's spouse. The amendment would not have applied to classified employees of the registrar of voters or the elections division of the Department of State.

Who are Louisiana state civil service employees?

See also: Louisiana civil service

The Louisiana State Constitution defines the state civil service as "all persons holding offices and positions of trust or employment in the employ of the state, or any instrumentality thereof, and any joint state and federal agency, joint state and parochial agency, or joint state and municipal agency, regardless of the source of the funds used to pay for such employment." The constitution divides civil service employees as classified and unclassified and provides that all positions not listed under unclassified are classified positions. Unclassified civil service employees include:

• 1: elected officials and persons appointed to fill vacancies in elective offices;
• 2: the heads of each principal executive department appointed by the governor, the mayor, or the governing authority of a city;
• 3: city attorneys;
• 4: registrars of voters;
• 5: members of state and city boards, authorities, and commissions;
• 6: one private secretary to the president of each college or university;
• one person holding a confidential position and one principal assistant or deputy to any officer, board, commission, or authority mentioned in (1), (2), (4), or (5) above, except civil service departments;
• 7: members of the military or naval forces;
• 8: teaching and professional staffs, and administrative officers of schools, colleges, and universities of the state, and bona fide students of those institutions employed by any state, parochial, or municipal agency;
• 9: employees, deputies, and officers of the legislature and of the offices of the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, each mayor and city attorney, of police juries, school boards, assessors, and of all offices provided for in Article V of this constitution except the offices of clerk of the municipal and traffic courts in New Orleans;
• 10: commissioners of elections, watchers, and custodians and deputy custodians of voting machines; and
• 11: railroad employees whose working conditions and retirement benefits are regulated by federal agencies in accordance with federal law.

How did this measure get on the ballot?

See also: Path to the ballot

In Louisiana, a two-thirds vote is needed in each chamber of the Louisiana State Legislature to refer a legislatively referred constitutional amendment to the ballot for voter consideration.

This amendment was introduced as House Bill 315 (HB 315) on March 30, 2021. On May 19, 2021, the House passed HB 315 in a vote of 92-4. The Senate passed an amended version of the bill on June 6, 2021, in a vote of 35-0. The House concurred with the Senate's amendments on June 8, 2021, in a vote of 91-3.

Text of measure

Ballot question

The ballot question for the amendment was as follows:

“

Do you support an amendment to allow classified civil service employees to support the election to public office of members of their own families? (Amends Article X, Sections 9 and 20)

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Article X, Louisiana Constitution

The ballot measure would have amended Section 9 and Section 20 of Article X of the Louisiana Constitution. The following struck-through text would have been deleted and underlined text would have been added.

Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.

Section 9

(A) Party Membership; Elections. No member of a civil service commission and no officer or employee in the classified service shall participate or engage in political activity; be a candidate for nomination or election to public office except to seek election as the classified state employee serving on the State Civil Service Commission; or be a member of any national, state, or local committee of a political party or faction; make or solicit contributions for any political party, faction, or candidate; or take active part in the management of the affairs of a political party, faction, candidate, or any political campaign,.

(B) Activities Authorized. Notwithstanding Paragraph A of this Section, any member of a civil service commission or officer or employee in the classified service may:

(1) except to exercise Exercise his right as a citizen to express his opinion privately, to serve as a commissioner or official watcher at the polls, and to cast his vote as he desires.

(2) Support, during off duty hours, the election of a candidate for public office who is his immediate family member. For purposes of this Subparagraph, "immediate family" means a person's parent, his stepparent, his grandparent or stepgrandparent, his spouse and his spouse's parent or stepparent, his child and his child's spouse, his stepchild and his stepchild's spouse, his grandchild and his grandchild's spouse, his stepgrandchild and his stepgrandchild's spouse, his sibling and his sibling's spouse, his stepsibling and his stepsibling's spouse, and his half13 sibling and his half-sibling's spouse. For purposes of this Subparagraph, "support" means attending campaign related events and appearing in campaign advertisements and photographs.

(3) The provisions of Subparagraph (2) of this Paragraph shall not apply to employees of the registrars of voters or employees of the elections division of the Department of State who are in the classified service.

(B) (C) Contributions. No person shall solicit contributions for political purposes from any classified employee or official or use or attempt to use his position in the state or city service to punish or coerce the political action of a classified employee.

(C) (D) Political Activity Defined. As used in this Part, "political activity" means an effort to support or oppose the election of a candidate for political office or to support a particular political party in an election. The support of issues involving bonded indebtedness, tax referenda, or constitutional amendments shall not be prohibited.

Section 20

Article XIV, Section 15.1, Paragraph 34 of the Constitution of 1921 is retained and continued in force and effect, except that an employee in the classified service may support the election of a candidate for public office who is his immediate family member. For purposes of this Section, "immediate family" and "support" have the meanings provided in Section 9 of this Article.

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2022

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The state legislature wrote the ballot language for this measure.

The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 10, and the FRE is 43. The word count for the ballot title is 29.

Support

The following elected officials sponsored the amendment in the state legislature.

Officials

• State Rep. Tony Bacala (R)
• State Rep. Larry Bagley (Nonpartisan)
• State Rep. R. Dewith Carrier (R)
• State Rep. Bryan Fontenot (R)
• State Rep. Jonathan Goudeau (R)
• State Rep. Dodie Horton (R)
• State Rep. C. Travis Johnson (D)
• State Rep. Ed Larvadain III (D)
• State Rep. Charles Owen (R)
• State Rep. Larry Selders (D)
• State Rep. Mark Wright (R)

Opposition

Ballotpedia did not identify committees, organizations, or individuals opposing the ballot initiative. If you are aware of any opponents or opposing arguments, please send an email with a link to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Louisiana ballot measures

Total campaign contributions:
Support:	$0.00
Opposition:	$0.00

If you are aware of a committee registered to support or oppose this measure, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.

Background

Louisiana civil service

The Louisiana State Constitution defines the state civil service as "all persons holding offices and positions of trust or employment in the employ of the state, or any instrumentality thereof, and any joint state and federal agency, joint state and parochial agency, or joint state and municipal agency, regardless of the source of the funds used to pay for such employment." The constitution divides civil service employees as classified and unclassified and provides that all positions not listed under unclassified are classified positions. Unclassified civil service employees include:

• 1: elected officials and persons appointed to fill vacancies in elective offices;
• 2: the heads of each principal executive department appointed by the governor, the mayor, or the governing authority of a city;
• 3: city attorneys;
• 4: registrars of voters;
• 5: members of state and city boards, authorities, and commissions;
• 6: one private secretary to the president of each college or university;
• one person holding a confidential position and one principal assistant or deputy to any officer, board, commission, or authority mentioned in (1), (2), (4), or (5) above, except civil service departments;
• 7: members of the military or naval forces;
• 8: teaching and professional staffs, and administrative officers of schools, colleges, and universities of the state, and bona fide students of those institutions employed by any state, parochial, or municipal agency;
• 9: employees, deputies, and officers of the legislature and of the offices of the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, each mayor and city attorney, of police juries, school boards, assessors, and of all offices provided for in Article V of this constitution except the offices of clerk of the municipal and traffic courts in New Orleans;
• 10: commissioners of elections, watchers, and custodians and deputy custodians of voting machines; and
• 11: railroad employees whose working conditions and retirement benefits are regulated by federal agencies in accordance with federal law.

Prohibitions of political activity for civil service employees

Under the Louisiana Constitution, classified civil service employees are prohibited from the following:

• engaging in political activity;
• being a candidate for nomination or election to public office;
• being a member of any national, state, or local committee of a political party or faction; and
• making or soliciting contributions for any political party, faction, or candidate; or take active part in the management of the affairs of a political party, faction, candidate, or any political campaign.

Constitutional amendments on the ballot, 2000-2020

See also: List of Louisiana ballot measures

The following statistics are based on legislatively referred constitutional amendments on the even-year ballot in Louisiana between 2000 and 2020:

• During the 20-year period between 2000 and 2020, the statewide ballot in Louisiana featured 104 constitutional amendments.
• An average of 10 amendments appeared on the ballot.
• The number of amendments on the ballot ranged from four to 21.
• Voters approved 71.15% (74 of 104) and rejected 28.85% percent (30 of 104) of the constitutional amendments.

Legislatively-referred constitutional amendments in even-years, 2000-2020
Total number	Approved	Percent approved	Defeated	Percent defeated	Even-year average	Even-year median	Even-year minimum	Even-year maximum
104	74	71.15%	30	28.85%	9.45	8.0	4	21

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Louisiana Constitution

To put a legislatively referred constitutional amendment before voters, a two-thirds (66.67%) vote is required in both the Louisiana State Senate and the Louisiana House of Representatives.

This amendment was introduced as House Bill 315 (HB 315) on March 30, 2021. On May 19, 2021, the House passed HB 315 in a vote of 92-4. The Senate passed an amended version of the bill on June 6, 2021, in a vote of 35-0. The House concurred with the Senate's amendments on June 8, 2021, in a vote of 91-3.

Vote in the Louisiana State Senate June 6, 2021
Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 26  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	35	0	3
Total percent	92.10%	0.00%	7.90%
Democrat	8	0	3
Republican	27	0	0

Vote in the Louisiana House of Representatives June 8, 2021
Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 70  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	91	3	11
Total percent	86.67%	2.86%	10.48%
Democrat	26	3	6
Republican	63	0	5
Independent	2	0	0

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in Louisiana

Click "Show" to learn more about voter registration, identification requirements, and poll times in Louisiana.

How to cast a vote in Louisiana

Poll times In Louisiana, polls are open from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Central time for Tuesday elections. For Saturday elections, polls open at 7:00 a.m. If the polls close while a voter is in line, he or she will still be permitted to vote. Registration requirements Check your voter registration status here. To vote in Louisiana, one must provide documentary proof of United States citizenship and be a resident of the state and parish in which they register. A voter must be at least 18 years old by Election Day. Registration completed via mail or in person must occur at least 30 days before Election Day. Registration completed online must occur at least 20 days before Election Day. Registrants must present a valid form of identification to register. Pre-registration is available beginning at age 16. Voters may register in person at any Registrar of Voters office or any of the following places: Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles Louisiana Department of Social Services WIC offices Food stamp offices Medicaid offices Offices and agencies serving people with disabilities Military recruitment offices Automatic registration Louisiana does not practice automatic voter registration. Online registration See also: Online voter registration Louisiana has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website. Same-day registration Louisiana does not allow same-day voter registration. Residency requirements Louisiana law requires 20 days of residency in the state before a person may vote. Verification of citizenship See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States Louisiana state law requires a voter registration applicant to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote. As of June 2025, the state had not implemented the requirement. All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment. Seven states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming — have laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration, whether in effect or not. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allows noncitizens to vote in some local elections. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters. Verifying your registration The site Geaux Vote, run by the Louisiana Secretary of State office, allows residents to check their voter registration status online. Voter ID requirements Louisiana requires voters to present photo identification while voting. Voters can present the following forms of identification. This list was current as of August 14, 2024. Click here to ensure you have the most current information. Louisiana driver's license Louisiana special identification card LA Wallet digital driver's license Military ID or other generally recognized picture identification card that contains the name and signature of the voter Voters who do not have accepted ID may vote by completing a voter identification affidavit. By law, voters who sign an affidavit may be challenged. Registered voters can bring their voter information card to the Office of Motor Vehicles to receive a free Louisiana special identification card.

See also

2022 measures

• 2022 ballot measures
• Elections and campaigns on the ballot

Louisiana

• Louisiana ballot measures
• Louisiana ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• House Bill 315 (2021)