There are many do's and don'ts of registering to vote, and if you are wanting to vote in the presidential race, you need to sign up sooner rather than later.

In light of this week being 'Voter Registration Week', the Secretary of State, Kyle Ardoin, has sent out a press release about the guidelines on how you can register to vote.

Monday, October 5 is the last day that you can register, either in person or by mail, in order to be eligible to vote in the November 3 primary election. In addition to local candidates, this will also be the election date to vote for president. Following that, the only other way to register to vote in the presidential election is by doing so online. The last day to do that is October 13.

So what are the qualifications that someone has to meet in order to be able to vote? The following is the information from Ardoin's office:

  • You have to be a citizen of the United States.
  • You have to seventeen, or sixteen, if you go in person. and then 18 prior to the next election.
  • You can vote if you're a felon if it's been five years since you've been out of prison.
  • You can't have a felony for an elections-related issue.
  • You can't be someone who the court has deemed as mentally incompetent or partially incompetent with your rights suspended.
  • You have to be a resident of Louisiana.
  • You have to be a resident of the parish you are seeking to register in.
  • You have to be trying to register twenty days out from the time of the election if you are doing so online.
  • You have to register thirty days out from the time of the election if you are trying to sign up by mail or in person.

If you have questions, you can always email someone at Louisiana Secretary of State's Office by suing this address: elections@sos.la.gov. If you prefer to go online the address is sos.la.gov, or you can call their office at 800-883-2805.

As Ardoin points out, Louisiana was one of the state's early on to embrace online voting. If you have a valid state-issued ID or a driver's license, you can go to https://voterportal.sos.la.gov to sign up. There are some other qualifications and deadlines, but as long as you meet those, you can easily register to vote.

Ardoin says,

Registering to vote is the critical first step in making your voice heard at the ballot box. This fall, voters will select leaders at all levels of government, and I encourage all unregistered voters to register to vote.

Make sure that you are heard by voting. As I have often pointed out, and many people agree, you really shouldn't complain if you're not going to vote.

There are several locations where you can sign up to vote including the following:

  • Any public assistance office
  • Office of Motor Vehicles
  • Armed Forces recruiting offices

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