Louisiana Amendment 1, Felons Disqualified to Run for Office for Five Years Amendment (2018)
- Primary election: Nov. 6
- General election: Dec. 8
- Voter registration deadline: Oct. 9
- Early voting: Oct. 23 - Oct. 30
- Absentee voting deadline: Nov. 5
- Online registration: Yes
- Same-day registration: No
- Voter ID: Photo ID required
- Poll times: 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
| Louisiana Amendment 1 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 6, 2018 | |
| Topic Elections and campaigns | |
Status Approved | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
Louisiana Amendment 1, the Felons Disqualified to Run for Office for Five Years Amendment, was on the ballot in Louisiana as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 6, 2018.[1] The measure was approved.
| A "yes" vote supported prohibiting convicted felons, unless pardoned, from seeking or holding a public office until five years after the completion of their sentences. |
| A "no" vote opposed prohibiting convicted felons, unless pardoned, from seeking or holding a public office until five years after the completion of their sentences. |
Election results
|
Louisiana Amendment 1 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
|
|
1,090,500 | 74.66% | ||
| No | 370,085 | 25.34% | ||
Overview
What did this ballot measure change?
Due to a court ruling in 2016, convicted felons could seek and hold a public office in Louisiana. Amendment 1 prohibited convicted felons, unless pardoned, from seeking or holding a public office until five years after the completion of their sentences. Amendment 1 did not prohibit a convicted felon from being employed by the state or a local government.[1]
Did Louisiana have a law disqualifying felons?
In 1998, voters approved Amendment 9, a constitutional amendment to bar convicted felons from seeking or holding public office for 15 years following the completion of their sentences.[2] Amendment 9 was in effect until January 27, 2016, when the Louisiana Supreme Court struck down the amendment due to an error in the official ballot text. Justice John L. Weimer (D) wrote the court's opinion, which said, "Simply stated, what the citizens voted on was not what the Legislature enacted."[3] Justice Scott J. Crichton (R) said, “The Legislature can, if it chooses to do so, once again address this issue in order to rectify this troublesome result.”[4]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title was as follows:[1]
| “ |
Do you support an amendment to prohibit a convicted felon from seeking or holding public office or appointment within five years of completion of his sentence unless he is pardoned? (Adds Article I, Section 10.1)[5] |
” |
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article I, Louisiana Constitution
Amendment 1 added a Section 10.1 to Article I of the Louisiana Constitution. The following text was added:[1]
Note: Hover over the text and scroll to see the full text.
§10.1. Disqualification from Seeking or Holding an Elective Office
(A) Disqualification. The following persons shall not be permitted to qualify as a candidate for elective public office or take public elective office or appointment of honor, trust, or profit in this state:
- (1) A person actually under an order of imprisonment for conviction of a felony.
- (2) A person who has been convicted within this state of a felony and who has exhausted all legal remedies, or who has been convicted under the laws of any other state or of the United States or of any foreign government or country of a crime which, if committed in this state, would be a felony and who has exhausted all legal remedies and has not afterwards been pardoned either by the governor of this state or by the officer of the state, nation, government, or country having such authority to pardon in the place where the person was convicted and sentenced.
(B) Exception. The provisions of Paragraph (A) of this Section shall not prohibit a person convicted of a felony from qualifying as a candidate for elective public office or holding such elective public office or appointment of honor, trust, or profit if more than five years have elapsed since the completion of his original sentence for the conviction.
(C) The provisions of Paragraph (A) of this Section shall not prohibit a person from being employed by the state or a political subdivision.[5]
Readability score
- See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2018
| Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title and summary 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.
In 2018, for the 167 statewide measures on the ballot, the average ballot title or question was written at a level appropriate for those with between 19 and 20 years of U.S. formal education (graduate school-level of education), according to the FKGL formula. Read Ballotpedia's entire 2018 ballot language readability report here. |
Campaign finance
| Total campaign contributions: | |
| Support: | $0.00 |
| Opposition: | $0.00 |
In 2018, there were no ballot measure committees registered in support of the measure or in opposition to Amendment 2.[6]
Reporting dates
In Louisiana, ballot measure committees filed a total of three campaign finance reports in 2018. The filing dates for reports were as follows:[7]
| 2018 campaign finance reporting dates | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date | Report | Period |
| 10/09/2018 | Report #1 | Through 9/27/2018 |
| 10/29/2018 | Report #2 | 9/28/2018 - 10/17/2018 |
| 12/17/2018 | Report #3 | 10/18/2018 - 12/06/2018 |
| 2/15/2019 | Report #4 | 12/07/2018 - 2/15/2019 |
Background
Past measures on the disqualification of felons
In 1998, more than 76 percent of voters approved Amendment 9, a constitutional amendment to bar convicted felons from seeking or holding public office for 15 years following the completion of their sentences.[2]
Amendment 9 was in effect until January 27, 2016, when the Louisiana Supreme Court struck down the amendment due to an error in the official ballot text. The version that voters approved was missing a paragraph, enacted by the state legislature, that would have exempted those sentenced to probation from the 15-years disqualification. Justice John L. Weimer (D) wrote the court's opinion, which said, "Simply stated, what the citizens voted on was not what the Legislature enacted."[3] Justice Scott J. Crichton (R) said, “The Legislature can, if it chooses to do so, once again address this issue in order to rectify this troublesome result.”[4]
Election policy on the ballot in 2018
Voters considered ballot measures addressing election policy in 15 states in 2018.
Redistricting:
- See also: Redistricting measures on the ballot
- Ohio Issue 1, Congressional Redistricting Procedures Amendment (May 2018) - The Ohio State Legislature, through a bipartisan vote, referred Issue 1 to the ballot for the election on May 8, 2018. The measure was written to change the vote requirements to pass congressional redistricting maps and the standards used in congressional redistricting in Ohio. Voters approved Issue 1.
- Colorado Amendment Y, Independent Commission for Congressional Redistricting Amendment (2018) - The amendment was written to create a 12-member commission responsible for approving district maps for Colorado's congressional districts. Democrats and Republicans in the Colorado State Legislature voted to refer the measure. It was approved.
- Colorado Amendment Z, Independent Commission for State Legislative Redistricting Amendment (2018) - The amendment was written to create a 12-member commission responsible for approving district maps for Colorado's state House and state Senate. Democrats and Republicans in the legislature voted to refer the amendment. It was approved.
- Michigan Proposal 2, Independent Redistricting Commission Initiative (2018) - The organization Voters Not Politicians collected more than the required 315,654 signatures for the initiative. The initiative was designed to transfer the power to draw the state's congressional and legislative districts from the Michigan State Legislature to an independent redistricting commission. It was approved.
- Missouri Amendment 1, Lobbying, Campaign Finance, and Redistricting Initiative (2018) - The PAC Clean Missouri collected signatures to get the initiated amendment on the ballot. The measure made changes to the state's lobbying laws, campaign finance limits for state legislative candidates, and legislative redistricting process. The position of nonpartisan state demographer was created. Amendment 1 made the demographer responsible for drawing legislative redistricting maps and presenting them to the House and Senate apportionment commissions.
- Utah Proposition 4, Independent Advisory Commission on Redistricting Initiative (2018) - The measure created a seven-member independent redistricting commission to draft maps for congressional and state legislative districts. The committee Utahns for Responsive Government collected more than the required 113,143 signatures to get the initiative certified for the ballot.
Voting requirements and ballot access:
- Arkansas Issue 2, Voter ID Amendment (2018) - Issue 2 was designed to require individuals to present a valid photo ID to cast non-provisional ballots in person or absentee. The Arkansas State Legislature referred the measure to the ballot, with Republicans and four of 30 Democrats voting to put Issue 2 on the ballot. It was approved.
- Florida Amendment 4, Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Initiative (2018) - The committee Floridians for a Fair Democracy collected more than the required 766,200 signatures to get Amendment 4 placed on the ballot. The measure was designed to automatically restore the right to vote for people with prior felony convictions, except those convicted of murder or a felony sexual offense, upon completion of their sentences, including prison, parole, and probation. It was approved.
- Louisiana Amendment 1, Felons Disqualified to Run for Office for Five Years Amendment (2018) - This measure was put on the ballot by the state legislature. Louisiana voters approved Amendment 9 in 1998 to prevent convicted felons from seeking or holding public office for 15 years following the completion of their sentences. Amendment 9 was struck down by the Louisiana Supreme Court in 2016. It was approved.
- Maryland Question 2, Election-Day Voter Registration Amendment (2018) - Legislative Democrats voted to place the amendment the ballot. The measure was designed to authorize a process for registering qualified individuals to vote at a precinct polling place on election day. It was approved.
- Michigan Proposal 3, Voting Policies in State Constitution Initiative (2018) - Promote the Vote collected more than 315,654 valid signatures to get the initiative placed on the ballot. Proposal 3 was designed to add several voting policies to the Michigan Constitution, including straight-ticket voting, automatic voter registration, no-excuse absentee voting, and same-day voter registration. It was approved.
- Montana LR-129, Ballot Collection Measure (2018) - The Montana State Legislature voted to place the measure on the ballot, through the support of 80 of 91 Republicans and one of 59 Democrats. The measure was written to ban persons from collecting the election ballots of other people, with exceptions for certain individuals. It was approved.
- Nevada Question 5, Automatic Voter Registration via DMV Initiative (2018) - The measure was designed to provide for the automatic voter registration of eligible citizens when receiving certain services from the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). The Nevada Election Administration Committee, a project of iVote, collected more than the required 55,234 signatures to get Question 5 placed on the ballot. It was approved.
- North Carolina Voter ID Amendment (2018) - This amendment was referred to the ballot by the state legislature along party lines with Republicans voting in favor of it and Democrats voting against it. It created a constitutional requirement that voters present a photo ID to vote in person. It was approved.
- North Dakota Measure 2, Citizen Requirement for Voting Amendment Initiative (2018) - North Dakotans for Citizen Voting collected more than the required 26,904 valid signatures to qualify this initiative for the ballot. The measure was designed to clarify that only a U.S. citizen can vote in federal, state, and local elections in North Dakota. It was approved.
Arkansas Issue 3, a legislative term limits initiative, was certified for the ballot but was blocked by an Arkansas Supreme Court ruling. The measure would have imposed term limits of six years for members of the Arkansas House of Representatives and eight years for members of the Arkansas Senate. The ruling came too late to remove the measure from the ballot, but the supreme court ordered election officials to not count or certify votes for Issue 3.
Campaign finance, political spending, and ethics:
- Colorado Amendment 75, Campaign Contribution Limits Initiative (2018)
- Proponents collected more than the required 136,328 valid signatures and met the state's distribution requirement to qualify this initiative for the ballot. The measure would have established that if any candidate for state office directs (by loan or contribution) more than one million dollars in support of his or her own campaign, then every candidate for the same office in the same primary or general election may accept five times the aggregate amount of campaign contributions normally allowed. It was defeated.
- Massachusetts Question 2, Advisory Commission for Amendments to the U.S. Constitution Regarding Corporate Personhood and Political Spending Initiative (2018) - This citizen initiative was designed to establish a 15-member citizens' commission to advocate for certain amendments to the United States Constitution regarding political spending and corporate personhood. It was approved.
- Missouri Amendment 1, Lobbying, Campaign Finance, and Redistricting Initiative (2018) - Besides the redistricting provisions of Amendment 1 described above, Missouri Amendment one also made changes to the state's lobbying laws and campaign finance limits for state legislative candidates.
- North Dakota Measure 1, Ethics Commission, Foreign Political Contribution Ban, and Conflicts of Interest Initiative (2018) - North Dakotans for Public Integrity collected more than the required 26,904 valid signatures to qualify this initiative for the ballot. Measure 1 established an ethics commission, ban foreign political contributions, and enact provisions related to lobbying and conflicts of interest. It was approved.
- South Dakota Constitutional Amendment W, State Campaign Finance and Lobbying Laws, Government Accountability Board, and Initiative Process Amendment (2018) - The committee Represent South Dakota collected more than the required 27,741 signatures to get the initiative certified for the ballot. The measure was designed to revise campaign finance and lobbying laws, create a government accountability board, and enact new laws governing the initiative and referendum process. It was defeated.
- South Dakota Initiated Measure 24, Ban Out-of-State Contributions to Ballot Question Committees Initiative (2018) - This citizen initiative banned out-of-state contributions to committees supporting or opposing ballot measures within South Dakota. Rep. Mark Mickelson (R-13), speaker of the South Dakota House of Representatives, sponsored the initiative. It was approved.
Referred constitutional amendments in Louisiana
From 1995 through 2017, the Louisiana State Legislature referred 179 constitutional amendments to the ballot. Voters approved 133 and rejected 46 of the referred amendments. Most of the amendments (115 of 179) were referred to the ballot for elections during even-numbered election years. The average number of amendments appearing on an even-year ballot was between 10 and 11. The approval rate at the ballot box was 74.3 percent during the 22-year period from 1995 through 2017. The rejection rate was 25.7 percent. In 2017, there were three referred amendments on the ballot. In 2016, there were six amendments.
| Legislatively-referred constitutional amendments, 1995-2017 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total number | Approved | Percent approved | Defeated | Percent defeated | Even-year average | Even-year median | Even-year minimum | Even-year maximum | |
| 179 | 133 | 74.30% | 46 | 25.70% | 10.45 | 9.00 | 4 | 21 | |
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Louisiana Constitution
In Louisiana, a two-thirds vote in both chambers of the Louisiana State Legislature during one legislative session is required to refer a constitutional amendment to the ballot. Louisiana is one of 16 states that require a two-thirds supermajority in each chamber of the legislature.
Sen. Conrad Appel (R-9) filed the amendment in the Louisiana State Legislature as Senate Bill 31 (SB 31) on February 15, 2018.[8]
On April 24, 2018, the Louisiana State Senate approved SB 31 in a vote of 36 to zero with three members absent.[8]
On May 17, 2018, the Louisiana House of Representatives altered SB 31 to state that constitutional amendment would not prohibit the state from employing convicted felons. The state house approved the amended SB 31 in a vote of 70 to 24 with 10 members absent. The amendment needed 70 votes to pass. As SB 31 was amended by the state House, the bill needed to be approved again by the state Senate.[8]
On May 18, 2018, the state Senate voted 31 to zero with eight members absent to concur with the state House's changes.[8]
As SB 31 received the vote of at least two-thirds of the members in each legislative chamber, the constitutional amendment was certified for the ballot for the election on November 6, 2018.
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How to cast a vote
- See also: Voting 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.[9][10]
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.[11]
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.[11]
Voters may register in person at any Registrar of Voters office or any of the following places:[11]
- 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
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.[12][13]
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.[14] 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. One state, Ohio, requires proof of citizenship only when registering to vote at a Bureau of Motor Vehicles facility. 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
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Louisiana State Legislature, "Senate Bill 31," accessed April 25, 2018
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Louisiana House Legislative Services, "Amendments to the Louisiana Constitution of 1974," November 19, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Times-Picayune, "You may now vote for the crook; it's legal again in Louisiana," January 27, 2018
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Daily Advertiser, "State high court overturns bar to felons running for office," January 28, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Louisiana Ethics Administration Program, "Political Action Committees," accessed May 21, 2018
- ↑ Louisiana Ethics Administration Program, "Schedule of Reporting and Filing Dates for November 6, 2018 Proposition Election," accessed May 21, 2018
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Louisiana State Legislature, "SB 31 Overview," accessed April 25, 2018
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "FAQ: Voting on Election Day," accessed August 15, 2024
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Vote on Election Day," accessed August 15, 2024
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Louisiana Secretary of State, "Register to Vote," accessed August 15, 2024
- ↑ WWNO, "Louisiana now requires proof of citizenship to vote, but hasn’t issued any guidance," January 15, 2025
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Louisiana Voter Registration Application," accessed June 30, 2025
- ↑ Under federal law, the national mail voter registration application (a version of which is in use in all states with voter registration systems) requires applicants to indicate that they are U.S. citizens in order to complete an application to vote in state or federal elections, but does not require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the application "may require only the minimum amount of information necessary to prevent duplicate voter registrations and permit State officials both to determine the eligibility of the applicant to vote and to administer the voting process."
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