Early Voting Massive, Unprecedented In Central, Throughout EBR, State

 Nationwide, more than 50 million voters have already cast their ballots in the Presidential election coming up Tuesday, Nov. 3.  Here in Central, 11,616 voters cast ballots at the Central Library. However, many of those were not from Central.

In Louisiana and especially in East Baton Rouge Parish, early voting has exploded.  High interest in the Presidential election and an expansion of the time for early voting have resulted in a doubling of early voting in East Baton Rouge Parish.

While statewide, the increase in turnout is not as great as in East Baton Rouge Parish, it is nevertheless breaking all records.

In Louisiana, early voting was held from Oct. 16 to Oct. 27. In that period, 964,181 voters cast their ballots.  That is an increase from 2016 when early voting lasted eight days. In 2016, 531,555 people voted early across the state. That’s an increase of 432,626 votes cast.  Percentage wise, it represents an 81.3 percent increase in early voting in Louisiana.

In East Baton Rouge Parish, early voting rose from 48,908 votes cast in 2016 to 98,126 in 2020.  That’s 49,218 additional votes cast, an increase of over 100 percent.

Also in East Baton Rouge Parish, female voters went to the polls in far greater numbers than men. Statewide, 57.7 percent of all early voters were female.

A total of 58,402 women have voted so far, compared to 39,589 men.  As a result, early voting has left the remaining pool of voters for election day much more male-oriented.

Statewide, far more Democrats have voted than Republicans. However, it is important to note there are still far more registered Democrats than Republicans in Louisiana and in East Baton Rouge Parish.  Also, many white Democrats vote conservative.

In East Baton Rouge Parish, the ratio of white to black voters has changed slightly.  In 2016, 28,788 whites participated in early voting compared to 18,038 blacks and 2,082 of other races.  As a result, 58.9 percent of early voters were white, 36.9 percent were black, and 4.3 percent were of other races.

In 2020, 54,276 whites voted early, 38,719 blacks, and 5,131 other.  That means 55.3 percent of early voters were white, 39.5 percent were black, and 5.2 percent  were of other races.

Voter registration in East Baton Rouge Parish is 148,092 white, 130,386 black, and 17,155 other. That means 50.1 percent are white, 44.1 percent are black, and 5.8 percent are other.

Therefore, while black participation is up, whites are still overperforming in voter turnout, at least in early voting.

Statewide, the pool of voters remaining to vote on election day is much smaller than in the past.

Statewide, there are now 3,054,334 voters, but 964,181 have already voted.

In East Baton Rouge, there are 295,633 voters, and 98,116 have already voted.