Louisiana state executive official elections, 2021
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| Louisiana state executive official elections |
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| Election details |
| Filing deadline: January 22, 2021 |
| Primary: March 20, 2021 General: April 24, 2021 |
| How to vote |
| Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Saturday elections) Voting in Louisiana |
| Ballotpedia analysis |
| Federal and state primary competitiveness State executive elections in 2021 Impact of term limits in 2021 State government trifectas and triplexes |
| Other state executive elections |
One state executive office was up for special election in Louisiana in 2021:
Board of elementary and secondary education
Candidates and election results
Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.
General election
Special general election for Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education District 4
Michael Melerine defeated Cassie Williams in the special general election for Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education District 4 on April 24, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Michael Melerine (R) | 61.8 | 23,541 |
 | Cassie Williams (D) | 38.2 | 14,546 | |
| Total votes: 38,087 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Special nonpartisan primary for Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education District 4
Cassie Williams and Michael Melerine defeated Shelly McFarland, John Milkovich, and Cody Whitaker in the special primary for Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education District 4 on March 20, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Cassie Williams (D) | 29.3 | 10,768 |
| ✔ | | Michael Melerine (R) | 28.2 | 10,361 |
 | Shelly McFarland (R) | 22.4 | 8,251 | |
 | John Milkovich (Independent) | 15.9 | 5,844 | |
 | Cody Whitaker (Independent) | 4.2 | 1,555 | |
| Total votes: 36,779 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Emma Shepard (D)
Context of the 2021 elections
Party control in Louisiana
Louisiana Party Control: 1992-2026
Eight years of Democratic trifectas • Eight years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R |
| Senate | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| House | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
Voter information
How the primary works
In Louisiana, rules to participate in primaries vary by the office up for election. For congress, justice of the supreme court, the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, and the Public Service Commission, the state uses a semi-closed primary. In these primaries, only unaffiliated voters and voters registered with a party may vote in that party's primary. For all other statewide offices—including state senator and representative—Louisiana uses the majority-vote system. In this system, if a candidate receives a majority of the votes cast for an office, they win the election outright. If, however, no candidate reaches that threshold, a second round of voting is held between the top two vote-getters. Any registered voter can participate in both the first-round and second-round elections.[1][2]
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 are open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Central Time. Anyone in line when the polls close must be allowed to vote.[3][4]
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.[5]
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 for voters registering at a Registrar of Voters office or at the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles.[5]
Voters may register in person at any Registrar of Voters office or any of the following places:[5]
- Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles
- Louisiana Department of Social Services
- WIC offices
- Food stamp offices
- Medicaid offices
- Offices serving persons with disabilities such as the Deaf Action Centers and Independent Living Offices
- Armed Forces recruitment offices
Automatic registration
- See also: Automatic voter registration
Louisiana does not practice automatic voter registration.[6]
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
- See also: Same-day voter registration
Louisiana does not allow same-day voter registration.[7]
Residency requirements
Louisiana law requires 20 days of residency in the state before a person may vote.[5]
Verification of citizenship
Louisiana state law requires a voter registration applicant to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote.[8] As of February 2026, the state had not implemented the requirement.[9][10]
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.[11] Eight states — Alabama, Arizona, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming — have laws requiring individuals provide proof of citizenship at the time of voter registration, whether in effect or not. Three states, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi, require a person provide proof of citizenship if their citizenship status cannot be verified by other means.[12] 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
Louisiana requires voters to present photo identification while voting.[13]
Voters can present the following forms of identification. This list was current as of November 2025. Click here to ensure you have the most current information.
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Each voter is required to identify themselves by giving their name and address to a commissioner and by presenting either a Louisiana driver's license, a Louisiana special identification card, LA Wallet digital driver's license, a United States military identification card that contains the voter's name and picture or other generally recognized picture identification card that contains the name and signature of the applicant. If no photo ID is available, the voter can complete a Voter Identification Affidavit (AV-34) but is subject to challenge by law.[14] |
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To view Louisiana state law pertaining to voter identification, click here.
Registered voters can bring their voter information card to the Office of Motor Vehicles to receive a free Louisiana special identification card.[13]
Early voting
Louisiana permits early voting. Learn more by visiting this website.
Early voting allows citizens to cast their ballots in person at a polling place before an election. In states that permit no-excuse early voting, a voter does not have to provide an excuse for being unable to vote on Election Day. States that allow voters to cast no-excuse absentee/mail-in ballots in person are counted as no-excuse early voting states.
Forty-seven states and the District of Columbia permit no-excuse early voting. Alabama, Mississippi, and New Hampshire do not offer no-excuse early voting.
Absentee voting
The following individuals are eligible to vote absentee in Louisiana:[15]
- Senior citizens, 65 years of age or older
- Voters who expect to be temporarily absent from the state or their parish during the early voting period and on election day
- Offshore workers
- Students, instructors, or professors (as well as their spouses and dependents) who are living outside of their parish
- Ministers, priests, rabbis, or other members of the clergy (as well as their spouse and dependents) who are assigned outside of their parish
- Voters who moved more than 100 miles from the seat of their former parish within 30 days of an election
- Voters who are involuntarily confined to a mental institution and have not been judicially declared incompetent
- Voters who expect to be hospitalized on Election Day
- Incarcerated voters who have not been convicted of a felony
- Individuals who are physically disabled or homebound
- Participants in the secretary of state's Address Confidentiality Program
- Sequestered jurors
Past elections
2020
2019
- Louisiana gubernatorial election, 2019
- Louisiana lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2019
- Louisiana Attorney General election, 2019
- Louisiana Secretary of State election, 2019
- Louisiana Treasurer election, 2019
- Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education election, 2019
See also
| Louisiana | State Executive Elections | News and Analysis |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Louisiana State Legislature, "La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 18:410.3," accessed November 12, 2025
- ↑ Louisiana State Legislature, "La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 18:401," accessed November 12, 2025
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "FAQ: Voting on Election Day," accessed November 12, 2025
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Vote on Election Day," accessed November 12, 2025
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Louisiana Secretary of State, "Register to Vote," accessed November 12, 2025
- ↑ NCSL, "Automatic Voter Registration," accessed November 12, 2025
- ↑ NCSL, "Same-Day Voter Registration," accessed November 12, 2025
- ↑ Louisiana State Legislature, "La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 18:104," accessed March 16, 2026
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Louisiana Voter Registration Application," accessed January 27, 2026
- ↑ United States District Court For The Middle District of Louisiana, "DEFENDANTS’ MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN SUPPORT OF THEIR MOTION TO DISMISS PLAINTIFFS’ AMENDED COMPLAINT," December 23, 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."
- ↑ Florida's law takes effect on January 1, 2027
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Louisiana Secretary of State, "Vote on Election Day," accessed November 12, 2025
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Vote Absentee," accessed November 12, 2025
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