A voter in Louisiana is eligible to vote absentee in an election if he or she cannot make it to the polls on Election Day for one of the following reasons:
• Students, instructors, or professors (and the spouses thereof) that are residing outside of their parishes at the time of the election and are not within their parish at the time of the election, as well as Ministers, priests, rabbis, or other clergy members (and the spouses thereof) living outside of their parishes.
• Individuals who expect to be temporarily absent from the state or their parishes at the time of the election, as well as individuals who moved to another parish more than 100 miles from the parish seat of their prior residence as the voter registration period ended.
• Individuals who are “involuntarily confined in an institution for mental treatment … and are not interdicted and not judicially declared incompetent,” as well as individuals who expect to be hospitalized on Election Day and did not expect to be during the early voting period (or were already hospitalized during the early voting period)
• Individuals who expect to be outside of their precincts and “upon the waters of the state” during both the early voting period and Election Day for work purposes, as well as individuals who are confined in an institution but are not imprisoned or convicted of a felony
• Participants in the state’s Address Confidentiality Program, as well as individuals who will be sequestered on Election Day
• Individuals who are disabled or residing in a nursing home
For a person to vote absentee, his or her application must be received no earlier than 60 days prior to the election and no later than four days prior. The ballot must then be returned by 4:30 p.m. on the day before the election. Military personnel, their dependents, U.S. citizens residing outside of the United States, and voters who are hospitalized may return an absentee ballot request by 4:30 p.m. the day before the election and submit a completed ballot by 8:00 p.m. on Election Day.
