A 2:30 p.m. kickoff for the LSU home football game against Auburn on election day likely contributed to increased early voting in advance of Saturday’s elections, says Kyle Ardoin of the secretary of state’s office. Nearly 160,000 Louisiana residents cast ballots in the weeklong early voting period, a 12% increase over the 2007 gubernatorial election. Specifically, 159,542 early votes were cast by Saturday’s deadline. The number will rise as mailed ballots from military and disabled voters are counted. East Baton Rouge Parish logged the top number of early votes, 9,256. Gov. Bobby Jindal has nine opponents but is expected to easily win a second term, leaving the lieutenant governor’s race between Billy Nungesser and Jay Dardenne as one of the most competitive statewide contests.
Nearly 160,000 cast early votes
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