Primary elections are limited to party members

Voters registered with one of the two national parties can cast their vote for the president preference election on March 5.
“This type of election happens only every four years, when we are electing a new president,” Cheryl Milburn, St. Landry Parish registrar of voters, said. “This is a closed party election which means that only persons can vote for major parties — the Democratic or Repuliban party. No affiliates or green party or red party — they cannot vote in this particular election because this is the election for the registered voters of these (Democratic and Republican) parties.
“The is the opportunity to express their preference for a candidate to represent their party. Now when they will have the presidential election in November, everybody can vote no matter what their party is.”
Milburn spoke to Rotary Club members about the elections on Wednesday. In addition to being the parish registrar, Milburn is also a parish Board of Elections supervisor.
The Eunice mayor’s race and alderman race will also be on the ballot.
Milburn said that some voters head to the polls, and sometimes their names may not be on that poll’s register, possibly due to things like change of address. If the person insists on voting at that particular poll, they are allowed provisional voting on a paper ballot. Three days after the election, the parish Board of Elections supervisors go over any provisional votes, and the board determines if that vote will be counted by checking the voter’s status.
“Other parishes have a lot of provisional voting, there is not a lot in St. Landry Parish,” Milburn said. “Provisional voting started about 15 years ago, and it is only for federal elections.”
She added, “I have never seen provisional voting make a difference in an election.”
Milburn stressed the importance of changing an address when moving in order to prevent such issues when voting.
“People have the opportunity to express themselves by voting,” she said.
Early voting began last Saturday, and Milburn said the turnout was not that great.
“We’ve been averaging a little over 100 people a day compared to when we have local candidates,” she said. “We get about 700 a day (when there are local elections). I expect it to pick up before the week’s end. Every day we get a little more.”
Milburn said the largest percent of registered voters in St. Landry Parish are Democrat, but the Republican Party has grown considerably in the last five years.
“That percentage (of Republican voters) has gotten pretty good,” she said. “The young generation, when they come in to register to vote, most say non-affiliation. A lot of the younger generation are not putting a major party.”
Those who vote are required to show proper identification. If a voter does not have the proper identification with them, he or she will still be allowed to vote, but he or she will have to fill out an affidavit of identification.