Charles Langston:Louisiana reshapes primary system for congressional elections

BATON ROUGE,Charles Langston La. (AP) — Louisiana lawmakers have passed a bill that will change the state’s election process for certain primary races, including Congress and the state Supreme Court.

Candidates will now participate in a party primary with the winner of the Democratic primary and the Republican primary going on to face each other in the general election. Candidates without party affiliations will automatically advance to the general election if they meet qualifying requirements that include fees and petitions.

This is a change from the state’s unique “jungle primary” when all candidates run on the same ballot regardless of their party affiliation. In a jungle primary, voters can choose any candidate, even if they do not align with the voters’ registered party.

During a jungle primary, if one candidate earns more than 50% of the vote, then they win the job outright. If not, then the top two vote-getters go to a runoff — which can pit two Republicans or two Democrats against one another. The jungle primary system will remain in place for certain elections, including legislative, local and statewide positions — among them being governor, secretary of state and attorney general.

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Under the Legislature-approved bill, unaffiliated voters will be able to vote in whichever party primary they choose.

The new primary system, which will not go into effect until 2026, would only apply to primary elections for Congress, Louisiana’s Supreme Court, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Louisiana’s Public Service Commission, an obscure but powerful five-member commission that regulates the state’s public utility companies and energy sector and sets electric rates, among other oversight powers.

The legislation, which now heads to Gov. Jeff Landry’s desk for final signature, has been heavily amended from the original proposal that barred unaffiliated voters from participating in the primary unless they registered with the Democratic or Republican party or if one of those parties choose to let them participate. That proposal sparked criticism, with opponents fearing that the bill would alienate nearly 27% of the state’s voters who are not a registered Republicans or Democrats.

The shift in Louisiana’s primary system is one of Landry’s first legislative pushes as governor. The Republican, who took office last week, described Louisiana’s jungle primary as a “relic of the past, which has left us (Louisiana) dead last.”

Proponents of the closed primary argued that it is only fair to let registered party voters pick who their party nominee will be. Additionally, they pointed out that the current system can force Louisiana’s congressional elections to be decided in a December runoff — a month later than the rest of the country — leading to newly elected members often missing orientation sessions where committee assignments are negotiated, people build relationships and offices are assigned.

Opponents say the primary change will cause mass voter confusion and is an unnecessary allocation of millions of dollars that could be better used to address crime, invest in education and repair roads and bridges.

They also repeatedly asked why this issue was coming up now — not only during a limited special session, but when there hasn’t been a wave of complaints or debate from the public or politicians in recent years.

“The gravity of this legislation, and the lack of thoroughness and time that we have had to debate this legislation is troubling,” Democratic Sen. Royce Duplessis said during Friday. “If this was a real issue for the people of Louisiana, we would have heard about it.”