Voters’ anger about the presidential candidates, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, seems to be driving people to the polls in Louisiana, the state’s chief election official tells The Associated Press.
Louisiana voters turned out in record numbers during early voting. More than 515,000 voters cast their ballots early in Louisiana’s weeklong early voting period that ended Tuesday—17% of the state’s 3 million registered voters.
By comparison, nearly 357,000 people early voted for the presidential election four years ago and 292,000 people cast early ballots in the election eight years ago.
“The numbers are staggering,” Secretary of State Tom Schedler says.
Schedler is predicting a statewide voter turnout for next week’s election that could top the 68% level of the 2012 presidential election and reach as high as 70%
“We went into this election with, ‘Well, is anybody going to even show up?’ We just didn’t have a feel for it, because you heard so many people frustrated with both candidates, but we ended up with lines behind lines behind lines” of people, says Schedler.
White voters showed up in greater proportions, while black voting lagged, according to the data. Only 27% of those who cast ballots ahead of Election Day were black.
Republicans also turned out in greater proportions than their Democratic and independent counterparts. While 30% of state voters are registered with the GOP, they made up 39% of the early voters, according to the statistics released by Schedler’s office.
In East Baton Rouge Parish, 47,064 people cast their ballots early. Women voters (28,282) turned out in greater numbers than men (18,766), according to figures from the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office. Roughly 27,675 white voters cast their ballots ahead of Tuesday’s primary, compared to 17,429 black voters.
Democrats in East Baton Rouge also turned out in higher numbers than Republican voters. Roughly 23,000 Democrats voted, compared to roughly 16,500 Republicans. Independents cast roughly 7,600 ballots.
Women also turned out in higher numbers in Ascension Parish, casting 7,244 of the 12,726 ballots cast during the early voting period. According to the Secretary of State’s Office, 5,277 Democrats voted and 5,219 Republicans voted in Ascension Parish while 2,230 independents submitted ballots.
Meanwhile, in Livingston Parish, 18,628 people voted. Of that figure, an overwhelming number of early voters—17,465—were white compared to just 676 who were black. Approximately 10,200 Republicans voted compared to about 4,600 Democrats.
