Heavy Early Voting Favors Coach Sid

Woody Jenkins, Editor

By the close of early voting on Tuesday, Oct. 29, Republican-leaning voting sites in East Baton Rouge Parish had received three times the number of early votes as Democrat-leaning sites. In addition, white voters turned out in record numbers, while black turnout actually decreased. Of votes cast in EBR, 57 percent were white, 38.2 percent were black, and 4.8 percent other. 

The two Democrat-leaning sites are the Motor Vehicles office in Baker and City Hall in downtown Baton Rouge. The three Republican-leaning sites are the Central Library in the City of Central, the Fire Station on Coursey Boulevard, and the State Archives Building on Essen.

Complete early vote totals in the parish were as follows:

•Baker – 12,084

•Downtown – 6,603

Dem-leaning Sites Total – 18,687

•Central – 14,487

•Coursey – 16,789

•Essen – 31,247

GOP-leaning Sites – 62,523

These numbers include only those who voted early in person and not mail ballots.

On a racial basis, white voters are turning out at a significantly higher rate than black and other voters.

The turnout numbers could bode well for Coach Sid Edwards, Republican nominee for Mayor-President.

East Baton Rouge Parish has the following registered voters:

Whites – 142,457

Blacks – 129,460

Others – 19,132

Mail-in ballots will be received until the day before the election Nov. 5.  When mail-in ballots already received are included with early vote totals, the current total is:

Whites – 53,996

Blacks – 34,862

Other – 4,311

Given historic voting patterns, this means it is mathematically almost impossible for both Democratic candidates to make a runoff.

As of the end of early voting, voter turnout in East Baton Rouge Parish was as follows:

Whites – 37.9 percent

Blacks – 26.9 percent

Others – 22.5 percent

This means that so far, 37.9 percent of all white voters have already voted and so on.

Broken down by party, turnout is as follows:

Democrats – 31.6 percent

Republicans – 42.9 percent

Others – 22.5 percent