Down Ballot Resources
There are a ton of down ballot races all over the state this year. Louisianahbrah will not be endorsing anyone, but we will do our best to share resources here so you can do your research and be an educated voter.
FIRST STEPS:
FIND YOUR SAMPLE BALLOT HERE, print it out, research each race, mark it up, and bring it with you to the polls. You can also download the Geaux Vote mobile app to see your sample ballot.
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A PLAN FOR VOTING. Know when and where you will go vote.
CONSIDER EARLY VOTING IF POSSIBLE. As we’ve seen for months now, the Republican party—at all levels—has been undermining public trust in the validity of mail in ballots. The best way we can ensure a quick and relatively painless win and transfer of power, is if we win by a large margin and if we cast as many votes as possible in person. Also, let’s establish early on that we aren’t playing and that Trump has to go. Look for your early voting places here and remember that you can go to any of the designated spots in your parish during early voting. It lasts from Oct. 16-27 every day from 8am to 7pm, except for Sundays.
GENERAL RESOURCES:
LOUISIANAHBRAH: check out our “Make a Plan” and “Down Ballot” highlight to find our recs on constitutional amendments, info on voting, and other deeper dives. (quick recap, yes on #s 2 & 3, no on everything else)
GEAUX VOTE: this is the Secretary of State’s one stop shop for voting and election information. Despite the fact that Kyle obviously hates free and fair elections, this is an easily navigable website. You can also download their Geaux Vote app.
POWER COALITION: this is a great place to find additional information on voting in Louisiana, including sample ballots from several different parishes.
DOWN BALLOT RESOURCES
General state-wide/DA Races:
KNOW YOUR VOTE LA: has a ton of information on state wide, multi-parish and single parish races and District Attorney races. If you feel aligned with them (check out their issues here), they also have a list of endorsements.
Democratic Socialists of America: if you’re not scared of that nasty S word, check out this guide. They really go in deep on who the candidates are.
Constitutional Amendments:
PAR: has a great nonpartisan guide to the constitutional amendments. They tell you the current sitch and arguments for or against them so you can make your own educated decision.
Leslie Esmeralda Gamboni (@lesliegamboni) has provided Spanish translations of the constitutional amendments. She has also included recommendations.
VOTE NO ON 1 LA: this local campaign has done a great job setting up an argument against constitutional amendment #1.
Orleans Parish Down Ballot Races:
Antigravity Magazine, in conjunction with New Orleans Harm Reduction Network has published their voting guide
This spreadsheet is out there in the world. We have no idea who put it together, but it seems legit and provides good background on most of the candidates. If the ppl who put it together end up being total psychos, our bad!
Forums
Check out both Indivisible New Orleans and Power Coalition for great candidate forums.
ENDORSEMENTS
Check out the following organizations that have provided endorsements. If you feel aligned with any of them, you might want to follow their recommendations. Or you can always mix it up. Again, this is all your call. That’s the beauty of democracy.
Statewide
INDIVISIBLE New Orleans: has published their endorsements here.
Orleans Parish School Board Races
FORWARD NEW ORLEANS (FNOPS): is a diverse coalition of more than 20 civic, business and neighborhood organizations committed to increasing the number of quality public school options and ensuring equal access to quality education citywide. They have a scorecard noting if each candidate has taken their pledge to uphold the Forward New Orleans platform.
DEMOCRATS FOR EDUCATION REFORM (DFER): is a national political organization that supports elected Democrats and candidates for office who seek to expand policies and practices that work well for America’s students, and to confront those that do not. Find their endorsements here.
Orleans Parish District Attorney Race
KNOW YOUR VOTE LA: again, check them out if you’re into their platform.
NOLA DEFENDERS 4 EQUAL JUSTICE: Is Public Defender-led group working to transform the criminal legal system in Orleans Parish. Their goal is to “flip the bench,” meaning newly elected sitting judges will be former public defenders instead of former prosecutors—an idea which you may or may not find merit in depending on the candidate.