MONROE, La (KTVE/KARD) — The recent gubernatorial election for Louisiana showed that the voter turnout was the lowest it has been in more than 10 years. Less than 36% of registered voters actually participated in the election.
Dr. Pearson Cross, director of the school of behavior and social science at ULM, expressed why the turnout was low. “Voter turnout was down considerably in this election cycle, and it’s not entirely clear why that is except for the fact that there was one overwhelming favorite in this race, who of course was Jeff Landry, who took it in the first round. Democrats and black voters didn’t seem to really emerge in this election.”
Cross broke down some of the voting statistics and explained if he believes this could be a trend. “Voter turnout statewide was about 35%, really close to 36%. Ouachita Parish, as it turns out, had a voter turnout rate below 30%, which is really staggering. We haven’t seen numbers that low statewide or in Ouachita since 2011. It’s too early to see whether this is really a trend. There were about 200,000 or so fewer voters this election cycle than there were in the 2019 gubernatorial election cycle. So, as we move forward, this could be a troubling trend—a very, very low turnout—but let’s hope that that’s not the case and that people do come out.”
Christie Dixon, a resident of Louisiana, explained if she voted and why she thought the turnout was low. “I did not, because I forgot. I just forgot. I don’t think people got out and voted; I think they were busy and just didn’t think about it.”
