November 13th election preview

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - It’s time again to have your voices heard.

“These are all very important constitutional amendments, we also have a very hot senate race, a very contested senate race on the ballot which most of the voters in Calcasieu Parish will be voting on and we also have two tax propositions,” said Clerk of Court, Lynn Jones.

With nearly 8,000 votes, or about 6% cast for early voting here in Calcasieu Parish, Jones tells me they’re hoping for higher turnouts this weekend.

“I always hoped for 100%,” he said. “But I’m hoping at least and in the 30s, maybe, maybe high 30s. But, you know, if the people don’t decide to go out and vote, it could be a lot lower than that.”

With State Senator Ronnie John’s former seat for District 27 on the ballot following his resignation, Jones says this election for his replacement is not only important to Calcasieu Parish politics but also those at the state level.

“That’s a very important position, not only to local issues that you deal with, and the job they do here, but what they take to the legislature and what we can get for our area and right now, you know, we’re struggling and we’re scrambling to get everything we possibly can,” he said. “So we have to have good leadership in Baton Rouge. So it’s an extremely important election.”

Something that political science faculty member over at McNeese, Dr. Diane Verrill would agree with.

“This could be a very, very close election,” she said. “And I think every vote will matter, and because we have a third candidate in the election, we can easily end up with a runoff election. So it does matter.”

With the goal of increasing civic engagement in the youth, she tells me that she reached out to the candidates for a meet and greet, even hosting a debate.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to let the three candidates know that you can’t discount the youth vote. This isn’t just an election about hearing from the seniors. This is an election about hearing from the youth.”

Those polls open at 7 a.m. Saturday morning and close at 8 .p.m.