§ 18:115 — Registration by mail

§115. Registration by mail
A.(1) In addition to the national mail voter registration form promulgated by the
United States Election Assistance Commission, the secretary of state shall design and
distribute a state mail voter registration application form. The state mail voter registration
form shall include the eligibility requirements for registration.
(2) A person may apply to register to vote by mail by completing, signing through
handwritten signature, and returning either the national voter registration form or the state
mail voter registration form to the registrar of voters for the parish in which the applicant
resides.
(3) Repealed by Acts 2013, No. 383, §4.
B.(1) The registrar of voters shall determine the eligibility of an applicant in the
following manner:
(a) The registrar shall mail a verification mailing to the applicant at the address
provided on the application form. The mailing shall instruct the postmaster to deliver only
as addressed or return to sender, with return postage guaranteed. If such mailing is not
returned to the registrar within ten days from the date of mailing, the applicant shall be added
to the official list of voters and the registrar of voters shall send a notice of registration to the
applicant. However, if the verification mailing is returned to the registrar by the United
States Postal Service, the registrar shall not add the applicant's name to the official list of
voters and shall attempt to notify the applicant of such action.
(b) If an applicant fails to provide all of the required information on the application
for voter registration, the registrar shall notify the applicant in writing of the missing
information and inform him that he has ten days from the date on which the notice was
mailed to provide the information. This written notification shall be considered the
verification mailing as required by Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph. If the applicant
provides the information and the registrar determines he is eligible to register, the applicant
shall be added to the official list of voters and the registrar shall send a notice of registration
to the applicant. In the event the applicant does not respond to the request for the missing
information within ten days, the application shall be rejected and the registrar shall so advise
the applicant in writing. If the registrar's request for the missing information is returned by
the United States Postal Service, the applicant's name shall not be added to the official list
of voters and the registrar shall attempt to notify the applicant of such action.
(2) The registrar shall maintain a list of persons to whom verification mailings have
been sent within thirty days prior to a particular election.
C. Any mail voter registration application received by the registrar of voters shall be
considered an update to any existing voter registration for that person. However, in order to
change the name of a registration based on a mail voter registration application, the registrar
shall require a copy of such documentation as provided for in R.S. 18:111.
D. The parish registrar of voters shall obtain from the secretary of state and maintain
a supply of mail voter registration application forms for distribution and for voter
registration. The mail voter registration application forms shall be made available through
governmental and private entities. Such forms shall be available for organized voter
registration programs.
E.(1) Mail voter registration applications returned through the United States Postal
Service shall be deemed to have been made as of the date of the postmark affixed to such
application by the United States Postal Service, or if no such postmark is affixed or if the
postmark affixed by the United States Postal Service is illegible or bears no date, such
application shall be deemed to have been made timely if received through the United States
mail by the registrar of voters no later than the close of business on the thirtieth day prior to
an election.
(2) Mail voter registration applications returned by a third party must be received by
any registrar of voters no later than the registration deadline for a particular election in order
for the applicant to be eligible to vote in that election.
(3) In any other case, a mail voter registration form shall be deemed received timely
if received by any registrar of voters no later than the registration deadline for a particular
election.
F.(1) Any registered voter who has registered by mail and has not previously voted
in the parish in which he is registered shall vote in accordance with one of the following:
(a) In person at any location where early voting is conducted in the parish in which
he is registered to vote.
(b) In person at the precinct in which he is registered to vote.
(2) The provisions of Paragraph (1) of this Subsection shall not apply in the case of
the following:
(a)(i) A person who is otherwise entitled to vote under the provisions of the
Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act or the Voting Accessibility for the
Elderly and Handicapped Act.
(ii) Any person who is otherwise entitled to vote and who prior to January 1, 2010,
was approved by a parish board of election supervisors as being eligible to participate in the
Special Program for Handicapped Voters as such program existed prior to January 1, 2010.
(iii) Any person who is otherwise entitled to vote and who has submitted to the
registrar of voters current proof of disability from a physician, optometrist, physician
assistant as defined in R.S. 37:1360.22, or nurse practitioner as defined in R.S. 37:913 along
with a certification from the physician, optometrist, physician assistant as defined in R.S.
37:1360.22, or nurse practitioner as defined in R.S. 37:913 which indicates that by reason
of the person's disability the person is unable to appear in person to vote either during early
voting or at the polling place on election day, and if the person submitted the proof of
disability to registrar by mail, who included in his submission to the registrar a copy of his
Louisiana driver's license, his Louisiana special identification card issued pursuant to R.S.
40:1321, or other generally recognized picture identification card that contains the name and
signature of the person, or a form on which the person has listed the names and addresses of
at least two persons residing in his precinct who could make oath, if required, to the effect
that the person is physically disabled.
(b) A person who is a student at an institution for higher learning located outside of
the registrant's parish of residence, when such student submits a copy of his student
identification or fee bill showing current enrollment with the application to vote by mail.
(c) A person who appears in the office of the parish registrar of voters where he is
registered to vote prior to the opening of the period for conducting early voting for the
scheduled election and establishes his identity pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 18:105(A).
(d) A person who is a program participant in the Louisiana Department of State
Address Confidentiality Program pursuant to Part III of Chapter 1 of Title 44 of the
Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950.
(e) A person who was registered to vote in another parish and previously voted in
the other parish.
G. Upon receipt by the registrar of voters of an undelivered notice of registration, the
registrar shall immediately begin the procedure set forth in R.S. 18:193 and place the voter
on the inactive list of voters.
H. Each registrar of voters shall maintain such statistical records on the number of
applications to register to vote by mail, except military and overseas applicants who register
by using the Federal Post Card Application, as requested by the secretary of state.

Legislative History

Acts 1994, 3rd Ex. Sess., No. 10, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1995; Acts 1999, No. 1381, §1; Acts 2001, No. 451, §6, eff. Jan. 12, 2004; Acts 2001, No. 1032, §7; Acts 2005, No. 220, §4, eff. Jan. 1, 2006; Acts 2005, No. 431, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2006; Acts 2006, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 2, §1, eff. Feb. 23, 2006; Acts 2006, No. 403, §1, eff. June 15, 2006; Acts 2008, No. 136, §1, eff. June 6, 2008; Acts 2009, No. 369, §1; Acts 2009, No. 436, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2010; Acts 2013, No. 383, §4; Acts 2020, No. 28, §2, eff. Feb. 1, 2021; Acts 2022, No.274, §1, eff. June 3, 2022.