(The Center Square) — As the discussion on two early Caddo voting sites continues, the Long Range Planning Committee will meet and make recommendations on next steps.
The commission returned the item to the committee after the July 3 regular session. Now, they will provide a recommendation that authorizes the Administrator to pursue the West Caddo voting site for the 2026 election cycle. The Administrator will also move forward with implementing the North Caddo site as soon as possible.
When previously discussed by the Caddo Commission, there were unanswered questions about the criteria for early voting sites, and many wanted to know why the west Caddo site did not get approved.
Dale Sibley, with the Registrar of Voters, spoke to the commissioners on Monday to clarify a few things involved in the early voting site process.
“The state statute allows you, based on geography, to do multiple sites, but all the criteria depend on the number of voters, distance and things like that,” said Sibley. “Early voting sites are not designed to be like precincts. We operate differently; we operate longer. We have different requirements. We have different logistics. So, early voting sites are not designed to be all over the parish.”
According to Sibley, the upcoming election this fall is a small one with only one proposition for the parish, so opening the second site may not be needed yet.
To get a new site up and running, it is a “three-part agreement” between the registrar, the chosen site and the secretary of state’s office. The funding comes from the commission. Sibley, personally, did not agree with having four early voting sites and believes adding a third is a stretch given where the population lives in the parish.
Sibley mentioned he did not receive word to look into a west site, only the north site.
Concerning the early voting sites, the commissioners discussed them at length after they passed the public safety committee.
“This came out of the public safety committee. It’s my understanding that the secretary of state and whoever the parties are in Baton Rouge had authorized an additional early voting site for west Caddo,” said Vice President Ken Epperson in July. “However, we had put in a resolution to authorize early voting sites for west Caddo as well as north Caddo. Therefore, they approved the north Caddo.”
The money for both sites has been allocated.
