Early voting for May 3 election slow

“Low and slow” is how the staff of the Registrar of Voters’ office described early voting for the May 3 election as of Thursday morning.

“It hasn’t even been steady,” said Registrar Billie J. Meyer. “It’s a lot lower than I had hoped it would be.”

At 10 p.m. Thursday, 63 “in-person” votes had been cast at the registrar’s office.

Meyer added that, of the 661 requests for mail ballots, 129 had been returned. No military mail ballots had been received.

Early voting ends Saturday at the registrar’s office, which will be open until 6 p.m. Friday (today) and from 8:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Saturday.

The registrar’s office is located at 568 NW Court Circle, on the grounds of the Acadia Parish Courthouse.

Two proposed tax renewals are on the ballot for May 3. Both are parishwide millages.

Acadia Parish has a total of 38,810 registered voters.

A 1.5-mill property assessment dedicated to funding services for the elderly, including the establishment and maintenance of centers for senior citizens, will be decided.

This millage raises an estimated $580,000 annually.

The second proposal is a 4.25-mill tax renewal dedicated to the operation and maintenance of the Acadia Parish Library system.

That millages raises about $1.6 million annually for the libraries.

Both are 10-year renewals through 2024.

According to a statistical reports furnished by the registrar’s office, almost twice as many females have cast early ballots as have males — 127-65 —thus far.

Statistics also show that 123 registered Democrats had voted, compared to 54 Republicans and 15 “other.”

Proper identification — a driver’s license or Louisiana identification card and voter identification card — is required for early voting.