SUBMIT PUBLIC COMMENT ON EMERGENCY VOTING PLAN
Hello all,
I’m sure most of you have watched me go down the rabbit hole the last few weeks about our emergency voting plan for November. Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin has been dragging his feet on it and today was the big reveal—and it’s a big ole partisan nothingberder. You can read a summary of it here and you can read the plan in full text here. The main gist is that the only pandemic provision for requesting a mail-in ballot is if you’ve actually tested positive for COVID-19. There are no provisions for anyone who may be otherwise compromised.
Kyle will present the plan to the Senate & Governmental Affairs Committee 8/20 at 1:00 pm. I’ll provide email addresses and a template for feedback below, but please note that the most effective emails are the personalized ones, so please feel free to adjust and edit as much as you like. Tell them why this is important to you. Humanize this issue for them—because as of right now, they can’t see anything beyond the letter behind their names.
EMAIL ADDRESSES:
marinovichl@legis.la.gov, s&g@legis.la.gov, hewitts@legis.la.gov, sen38@legis.la.gov, allainb@legis.la.gov, foilf@legis.la.gov, harrisj@legis.la.gov, pricee@legis.la.gov, sen30@legis.la.gov, tarverg@legis.la.gov, sen32@legis.la.gov
cc: schexnayderc@legis.la.gov, cortezp@legis.la.gov, elections@sos.la.gov
EMAIL:
Dear Senate & Governmental Affairs Committee,
I am writing to comment on Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin’s proposed emergency voting plan for the November 3 and December 5 Elections.
This emergency plan personally affects me because: ENTER YOUR PERSONALIZED STORY HERE
I do not support the plan as it stands right now. Not only is it a significant roll back of a successfully executed emergency plan last month, but it also falls far short of what the people of Louisiana need to cast a safe and secure vote. It does not provide for the safety of the immunocompromised and it places Louisiana once again at the bottom of the list when it comes to best practices. Should this plan pass, Louisiana will be one of only seven states to require an excuse for voters to obtain an absentee ballot. A revised plan should expand vote by mail eligibility to all voters and increase early voting to a full two weeks, and as we saw yesterday in the House & Governmental Affairs Committee, there is substantial public support for these measures.
The vast majority of Louisianians support expanded mail-in voting and the vast majority of studies show there is an extremely low risk of fraud due to mail-in ballots. Facts like these should guide the drafting of such an important plan as opposed to partisan politics.
Please do not pass this plan as it stands now. Revise it so that it responsibly addresses the consequences of this pandemic and the needs of the people of Louisiana.
Thank you,
Name, zip code
Now go buy some stamps and complete the census. All of these things are connected and you have the power to affect real change.
Take care of yourselves,
Louisianabrah