By Katherine Miller

STAFF WRITER

CROWLEY – Early voting polls were closed at 6 p.m. Tuesday after one of the largest early voter turnouts that has ever occurred in Louisiana and the nation.

Registrar of voters Billie Meyer stated that this was the largest early voter turnout since the governor’s election, which was held in 2007. According to the secretary of state’s office, which handles elections, 141,000 voters showed up at the polls in advance of last year’s election.

Statewide, nearly 200,000 people had voted by early Monday, which was a major spike since the 2004 Presidential election, which yielded 128,000 early voters.

Acadia Parish early voting yielded a total of 2991, which is about seven percent of the total 38,792 registered voters in the parish.

Early voting began Tuesday, October 21 and lasted that week through Saturday, October 25, as well as Monday and Tuesday of this week.

“Our busiest day was Tuesday, October 28, which yielded 687 people, either via mail or in-person,” Meyer reported. Needless to say, there were no real slow days during the early voting period, with the smallest voter turnout occurring on Saturday, October 25, which yielded 333 ballots.

Of the 11,526 voter eligible to vote in the City Judge run-off election, 25 percent opted to vote early.

This record breaking early voter turnout, which was previously called “absentee” voting, makes it more convenient for voters to take to the polls. Absentee voting required applicants to send a written request or bring the request stating the reason they were not able to vote on election day.

The final countdown begins as there are just five days left until Tuesday, November 4, a very critical Election Day for America’s future.