Louisiana

You do not need a “REAL ID” to vote in Louisiana.

Your driver’s license or state ID card will show a gold star if it meets REAL ID requirements under federal law.

• Louisiana REAL ID info
• Louisiana REAL ID check list
• Louisiana REAL ID frequently asked questions

Get in touch with VoteRiders if you have questions or need free help securing ID.

Registered voters in Louisiana need to show photo ID to confirm their identity when voting in person.

If you are a registered voter and do not have an acceptable form of ID, you can complete and sign a Voter Identification Affidavit, subject to challenge by the Louisiana Secretary of State.

Get in touch with VoteRiders if you have questions or need free help securing ID.

Yes, but only with use of LA Wallet – a smartphone app, administered by the Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles, that produces a digital license. Official Digital Driver’s License App for the State of Louisiana (lawallet.com) Note that if you are a registered voter and do not have an acceptable form of ID, you can complete and sign a Voter Identification Affidavit.

When you apply for an absentee ballot in Louisiana, you need to provide an excuse.

To be eligible: You must be a registered voter and unable to go to your polling place for an acceptable reason.

You must be:

• A student, professor or instructor in higher education, or the spouse/dependent residing with them
• A member of the clergy assigned outside of your parish of registration, or a spouse/dependent
• Temporarily absent or expecting to be temporarily absent during the early voting period and on election day
• Moving more than 100 miles from your Parish after the voter registration books closed
• In involuntary confinement for mental treatment outside your parish of registration
• Expecting to be hospitalized on election day
• Offshore or expecting to be offshore during the early voting period and on election day
• Incarcerated or expecting to be incarcerated for a non-felony conviction
  Part of Address Confidentiality Program
• A sequestered juror with jury sequestered during the early voting period and on election day
• At least 65 years of age physically disabled, homebound, in a nursing or veteran’s home, or in a hospital during the early voting period and on election day

Yes

If you submit your application online, you will need to include ID information (either a LA driver’s license number or state ID number).

If you submit your application by mail or in person, you do not need to submit an ID. Unless one of the following exceptions apply:

• If you have a disability, are homebound or live in a nursing or veteran’s home, see Disability Application for Absentee by Mail Ballot (PDF) for potential ID requirements.
• If you are a student who is a first-time voter, you must enclose a copy of your student ID or fee bill.
• If you expect to be hospitalized, you must enclose proof of hospitalization.
• If you are incarcerated, you must enclose a certification by sheriff.
• If you are a juror who expects to be sequestered during the early voting period and on election day, you must enclose a certified copy of court order.

If you are voting for the first time in a federal election in Louisiana, you may also need to submit an ID. Learn more about federal ID requirements for first-time voters.

No, but you must have a witness signature. Your signature on your mail-in ballot must match your signature on file with the state.

The registrar of voters will review your absentee ballot envelope flaps upon receipt to check if there are any of the following ballot envelope flap deficiencies:

1. missing your signature;
2. missing witness signature; and
3. incomplete affidavit information, such as missing election date and your voter information.

If the registrar of voters finds one or more of the above identified deficiencies, they will immediately mail a written notice of the ballot envelope flap deficiency to you to give you an opportunity to cure (fix) the error(s). If there is a telephone number or email address available in your registration record, the registrar of voters will also attempt to contact you by telephone or email. You must then appear in person at their registrar of voters office by no later than 4:30 p.m. the day before the election to cure the ballot envelope flap deficiency.