Shreveport professor breaks down early voter turnout and statistics

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) – Friday (October 25) marked a week since early voting began in Louisiana.

As of Wednesday (Oct. 23), more than 500,000 people in the Bayou State had cast early votes, according to the Louisiana Secretary of State's website. This website will post updated numbers by county and statewide throughout the early voting period. Statistics are also categorized by race, gender and political party.

(SEE VOTING STATISTICS)

Across Louisiana, more women voted than men earlier this election. Jeffrey Sadow, a political science professor at LSUS, said this trend has been going on for some time.

“For 20, 30 years, women have been outvoting men in this sense, largely because of differences in education levels,” he said. “People with higher education are more likely to vote; and, on the whole, (women) had, on average, more education than men.”

When it comes to political parties, Sadow said Louisiana residents don't always vote the way they're registered.

“You see this phenomenon in Louisiana, like virtually every other state, where they have gone for closed primaries for some offices. That's going to change because some of these people say they want to vote for the Senate in 2026. If they have voted Republican for the last 20 or 30 years, they will no longer have a chance in the primaries.”

More registered Democrats voted in Caddo Parish. More registered Republicans voted in Bossier Parish. At the state level, more registered Republicans voted early.

Sadow said Democrats typically vote early and Republicans don't show up until Election Day. However, this was not the case this year.

“If the pattern continues, there would be this dramatic change in early voting. The Republicans come out much earlier; therefore perhaps less likely on election day. Again, a key assumption is that we will see essentially the same pattern.”

Sadow said it's unclear whether this means more registered Republicans in the state are opting to vote early or whether there will simply be a larger surge of Republicans this year. He said he expects overall voter turnout to be around 2020 levels.

Those who have already voted may have noticed that the ballot paper is quite short. Sadow said that with not many major races on the agenda other than presidential, some Louisianans may have less incentive to vote.

“If there were more exciting secondary vote issues, that could increase voter turnout; but we don't see that. This is, of course, Louisiana-specific. There are high-profile voting contests in other states; and that will increase voter turnout there.”

Early voting continues until Tuesday (October 29). Find out where you can vote here.

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