Louisiana
11 Laws Louisiana Just Passed To Make Its Elections More Secure
Here in Louisiana, we passed a slate of 11 different election integrity bills during our 2024 legislative session. Each bill was designed to earn voters’ trust via three main goals: to help close loopholes in our existing election integrity policies, to establish uniformity in the collection and tabulation of ballots, and to help further clean our voter rolls.
Cleaning Up the Voter Rolls
Act 2 will allow the registrar of voters to conduct an expanded annual canvass of Louisiana voters. Federal law requires that every state conduct voter list maintenance. To that end, every year, election officials send out cards to voters who file a change of address with the U.S. Postal Service, which they sign and return. This process keeps our rolls clean and up-to-date. If someone has moved out of state or passed away, we need to know about it, and they need to be removed from the voter rolls. Act 2 will allow us to send canvass cards to those who have not voted or had contact with our office in 10 or more years, a group numbering over 160,000, according to our records. If they do not respond, they will be moved to the inactive list.
This law was a recommendation of the Louisiana legislative auditor and was previously passed by the legislature three years in a row. Our previous governor vetoed the bill all three times. But now we finally have a governor who understands the importance of election integrity measures.
Requiring Proof of Citizenship to Register to Vote
An overwhelming majority of voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2022 that banned alien voting in Louisiana. Act 500 allows us to enforce this amendment by requiring proof of U.S. citizenship when individuals register to vote. It should not be up for debate that the right to vote is reserved for American citizens.
Making Absentee Voting More Secure
The several absentee ballot collection and tabulation reform bills passed include Act 380, Act 302, Act 317, Act 712, Act 321, and Act 25. The bills complement Louisiana’s ban on ballot harvesting by preventing individuals from engaging in absentee ballot application harvesting, assisting with the certification of more than one absentee ballot aside from immediate family members, or delivering more than one absentee ballot of a non-family member to registrars of voters by any means, among other protections. Further, these acts will require those witnessing a ballot to be at least 18 years old.
Act 321 provides for uniform absentee ballot standards across Louisiana. Currently, the Parish Boards of Election Supervisors in each parish determines when to reject a ballot based on deficiencies. But the new legislation will clarify when, in the event of certain deficiencies, a ballot must be challenged. This includes mail-in ballots with any “missing information” that is “required” and not properly corrected.
Closing Loopholes and Preventing Fraud
Act 264, Act 701, and Act 291 are preventative measures that will help further close loopholes in our election policies and provide additional tools with which to investigate instances of voter fraud.
Act 291 preemptively bans ranked-choice voting (RCV) in Louisiana by prohibiting its use “in determining the election or nomination of any candidate to any local, state, or federal elective office” in the state. RCV is a convoluted, confusing system that has caused chaos in elections across the country, and this ban will work to protect the principle of one person, one vote.
Act 701 will require third-party groups that wish to hold voter registration drives — defined as “the solicitation, distribution, or collection of voter registration applications by a third-party voter registration organization” — to register with our office. It would protect voters’ personal information and enforce the timeliness of the registration forms’ return, to help avoid a situation where people who think they have been registered to vote show up on Election Day and find their registration form was never returned. It would also prohibit these third-party groups from pre-filling applications, which could lead to voter confusion.
Act 264 established the Division of Election Integrity within the Louisiana Department of State. The law gives Louisiana’s Elections Compliance Unit — which has successfully investigated cases of election fraud — a new name that more clearly describes the division’s work.
An Example to Other States
All 11 bills in our legislative package were passed during the regular legislative session and have already been signed into law by Gov. Jeff Landry.
Measures such as these reinforce trust in the electoral process. They grant a level of certainty to voters that their votes count and that their elections are fair, regardless of outcome. If other states seek to accomplish the same, they should consider following Louisiana’s example.
Nancy Landry is Louisiana’s 45th Secretary of State. She was elected in November 2023 and previously served as First Assistant Secretary of State.
Louisiana
Report: See where Louisiana ranks for mental health in 2025
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — Louisiana ranks as the second-worst state in 2025 for mental health.
Soliant Health researchers ranked all 50 U.S. states in a study. It examined their mental and physical health, jobs, and access to healthy food.
The report says Louisiana has the fifth-lowest physical activity participation rate. The state has the fourth-highest average number of poor mental health days and the third-highest percentage of limited access to healthy food. Louisiana finished with a score of 23.1 out of 100.
Experts listed North Dakota as the best state for mental health, giving it a score of 82.
The worst state, according to the report, is West Virginia, with a score of 21.9.
“A standout finding from our analysis is the clear link between a state’s disconnected youth rate and its performance in key areas like mental health and employment. Disconnected youth—those not in school or working—face greater risks of mental health struggles, including vulnerability to violence, substance abuse, and emotional challenges,” said Soliant Senior Vice President of Education Lesley Slaughter. “They’re also more likely to encounter unemployment, poverty, and long-term mental health issues later in life. This correlation underscores just how critical school-based healthcare professionals are; they don’t just support students’ emotional well-being but also lay the foundation for brighter futures, helping today’s youth grow into thriving, healthy adults.”
The 10 worst states for mental health in 2025, according to Soliant
- West Virginia — 21.9
- Louisiana — 23.1
- Arkansas — 26.6
- Nevada — 26.7
- Mississippi — 31.5
- New Mexico — 31.9
- Kentucky — 34.8
- South Carolina — 38.5
- Oklahoma — 39.7
- Texas — 39.9
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Louisiana
Bourbon Street area designated as 'enhanced security zone' for Super Bowl • Louisiana Illuminator
Heightened security restrictions will be in effect for the busiest section of the French Quarter starting next Wednesday through at least the day after Super Bowl LIX is played, Gov. Jeff Landry announced Wednesday.
The additional safety measures follow a Jan. 1 terrorist attack that killed 14 people and injured 57 others. They apply to the first seven blocks of Bourbon Street and the parallel streets one block on each side. All blocks between Royal and Dauphine streets will become an “enhanced security zone,” where certain items will be prohibited and personal accessories could be searched or seized.
Ice chests and backpack coolers will not be allowed inside the zone. People are also discouraged from bringing standard backpacks, large purses, suitcases, fanny packs, large shopping bags and camera bags into the area. Any bags larger than 4.5 inches by 6.5 inches – roughly the size of a clutch purse – will be subject to search, Landry said.
Anyone who refuses a police search will be denied entry to the security zone. Police also have the authority to search bags within the area, and they will remove anyone who doesn’t comply.
“We want cooperation with the public and balancing freedoms to enjoy the Quarter, with the need for these heightened security measures based upon the threat level that we saw on January 1,” the governor said during a news conference at the Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.
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Ice chests have been singled out for exclusion after Shamsud-Din Jabbar placed homemade explosive devices in two coolers and left them at separate locations in the midst of Bourbon Street revelers in the early hours of New Year’s Day. The FBI said a third bomb and a detonating device were found inside Jabbar’s rented pickup that he drove down three crowded blocks of Bourbon before crashing into a mobile lift platform.
Police killed Jabbar, a 42-year-old IT worker and U.S. Army veteran from Houston, in a shootout. He flew an Islamic State flag from the truck and had posted videos online ahead of the attack professing his extremist beliefs.
Landry created the security zone and provided police with enhanced powers inside of it through an executive order. It renewed the state of emergency he declared Jan. 1 for New Orleans, and its language indicates it could potentially be extended into Carnival season.
Read the governor’s order below
“We are going to focus on the Super Bowl right now,” the governor said. “We then will pivot once we get through the Super Bowl to Mardi Gras,” implying there will be heightened safety measures in place again for the French Quarter and potentially along parade routes.
The governor’s order does not apply to the Superdome, where the NFL and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are handling security precautions for the Super Bowl. Landry said state and city law enforcement officers will be working within their perimeters, however.
“As you move closer to the Superdome, the security restrictions are enhanced,” Landry said.
Several streets in the vicinity of the stadium and Smoothie King Center are already closed to traffic. More will be blocked when pre-Super Bowl events take place at other downtown locations, including the Morial New Orleans Convention Center and the Saenger Theater.
The NFL championship game takes place Sunday, Feb. 9.
In addition to local, state and federal law enforcement, there will be 350 members of the Louisiana National Guard dispatched to New Orleans to assist with traffic control and security checkpoints, according to the governor.
In addition to heightened security, the temporary homeless Landry established near the Gentilly neighborhood will be used through Mardi Gras, he said. There are currently 176 people staying at a contractor-staffed Port of New Orleans storage facility on France Road, the governor said.
Landry clashed with some city officials when directed Louisiana State Police to remove unhoused people from encampments in close proximity to the Superdome. He used his emergency powers to award a contract to operate the temporary shelter, where he said residents are receiving services that “are exponentially better than the ones they were receiving on the street.”
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Louisiana
Louisiana environmental activist loses freedom of speech lawsuit against parish officials
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Louisiana parish officials who threatened to arrest and imprison an environmental activist as she attempted to speak during a public meeting did not violate her right to freedom of speech, a unanimous civil jury ruled Wednesday.
Joy Banner had sought more than $2 million in damages from two St. John the Baptist parish officials — Parish President Jaclyn Hotard and councilmember Michael Wright — who she said blocked her from raising allegations of corruption tied to industrial development at a public meeting. While Banner’s attorneys said the case had important implications for protecting outspoken citizens from government censorship, lawyers representing the parish said they were model officials trying to curtail disruption and keep the meeting on track.
The case is part of a broader series of disputes playing out in courts and public hearings between grassroots community groups and Louisiana officials over industrial expansion in the 85-mile (136-kilometer) chemical corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, often referred to by environmental activists as “Cancer Alley” because of its high pollution levels.
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Banner, co-founder of the environmental and racial justice organization The Descendants Project, gained a national reputation fighting against an $800 million grain terminal slated for her predominantly Black community in St. John the Baptist parish. The project was later aborted.
In a November 2023 parish council meeting, Banner sought to oppose an agenda item introduced by Hotard to use taxpayer funds for a lawyer to defend parish officials from ethics complaints. The state ethics board had launched an investigation after Banner filed a complaint pointing out that Hotard’s mother-in-law, Darla Gaudet, owned a marine transport company that owned land near the proposed site for the grain terminal.
As Banner began to discuss these concerns during the public comment period, councilmember Michael Wright repeatedly banged his gavel and both he and Hotard told Banner she was not speaking on topic as she made her remarks.
Wright then quoted from an obsolete law under which anyone who publicly shared testimony given to a state ethics board investigation could be subject to one year of imprisonment. A federal judge deemed the law unconstitutional years ago.
“When I heard the words imprisonment and misdemeanor, I thought, ‘That’s it, I’m going to jail, I’ve messed everything up, my business is going to be ruined, my name is going to be ruined.’ I was terrified and shocked,” Banner later testified.
Ike Spears, the parish officials’ attorney, noted that they had also interrupted and instructed to stay on topic other members of the public who spoke during the public comment period. He described Banner as a “disruptive citizen” striving to become a “social media influencer” and garner media attention from the litigation.
“She wants us to reward this conduct with $2 million plus,” Spears told jurors.
Banner’s attorney William Most countered that her intended comments at the public meeting were “vital” to informing the parish about Hotard’s potential conflicts of interest.
“Joy Banner was treated differently than anyone else: She was the only person threatened with arrest and she was also the only one to raise the issue of Hotard’s family business interests,” Most said. “She was directly on topic.”
Hotard also used vitriolic language to describe Banner, including fantasizing about strangling her, in text messages to her mother-in-law that were introduced as evidence. Most said the messages indicated that Hotard had a personal motivation to shut down Banner’s participation in a public meeting.
The state ethics board ruled last year that Hotard had not violated state ethics laws.
Yet Hotard’s mother-in-law later revealed during a deposition for Banner’s lawsuit that Hotard’s husband is a beneficiary of a trust that owned land overlapping with the planned railroad route leading into the proposed grain terminal.
Spears acknowledged that Hotard would “probably” personally benefit from the grain terminal’s approval. But he said increased tax revenue and good-paying jobs were the parish president’s driving motivation in supporting the project.
Hotard, who was not present for the verdict, did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
The jury sent a “strong message against frivolous lawsuits,” Wright said in an emailed statement to The Associated Press. “This is a significant victory for St. John Parish and a promising sign for businesses and industries considering the River Parishes as their home.”
Juror Cam Owen said he was ready to vote in Banner’s favor following closing arguments. He changed his mind — and came to tears during deliberations — after closely reviewing the facts and video footage of the public meeting, which he described as the “deciding factor” for the jury. Owen said jurors calculated the amount of time Banner was able to speak and concluded she was able to express most of her viewpoint.
“At the end of the day, you know, they did try to stop her, but she did actually say what she had to say,” Owen said.
The jury also ruled that the parish had not violated Louisiana’s open meetings law.
Banner said she had no regrets about bringing the lawsuit and said it uncovered the parish president’s hidden financial interests.
“The purpose of this case was for transparency,” Banner said. “I think it’s important to hold people accountable for the things that we feel are wrong.”
“I hope you can heal,” Eastern District of Louisiana Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown told Banner and the parish officials after the verdict. “This is only one part of the process.”
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Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Brook on X: @jack_brook96.
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