Sunrise Interview: Calcasieu Clerk of Court on SWLA Midterms

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - With so much debate surrounding the 2022 midterm elections, it was a busy day at the polls. Calcasieu Clerk of Court Lynn Jones spoke with Rhonda Hardin about what was going on behind the scenes.

Jones says the voter turnout was better than estimates projected both in SWLA and statewide with a larger-than-average interest for a midterm election. However, Calcasieu Parish turnout was a bit lower at 42% compared with the 46% state average. Other parishes in SWLA averaged around 48% turnout.

As far as issues with voting, Jones says there are always small glitches and challenges in every election. Most of the reported issues had to do with location access due to ongoing construction at schools.

One issue that Jones says they’ve made a lot of headway in is the lack of poll commissioners. Following the 2020 hurricane season and COVID pandemic, the number of commissioners had dropped to about 50% of what was needed. But those numbers have risen as of late. And while Jones says they still need more, Calcasieu was able to staff each location.

There will be six runoff elections in our area that will be held on Dec. 10, 2022, that includes mayoral races for Iowa and Westlake.

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