You may have seen a lot of news stories about election results lately — but one state that went to the polls recently hasn’t been getting enough attention.
The story ends well.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry led the charge to try to pass four significant constitutional amendments through ballot measures in March, when voter turnout is typically lower than in regularly scheduled November elections.
It was an attempted power grab by political insiders — one amendment would have given politicians more authority to send kids to adult prisons and jails.
And elites were acting like they could sneak major policy changes past voters. Maybe they expected something like what happened in December, when four other constitutional amendments were on the ballot, only about 11% of Louisiana voters turned out, and all four measures passed.
Not so fast.
The No To Them All, Y’all coalition came together to make sure Louisianans knew what was on the line. They mobilized against all four amendments. They fought to get out the vote. And as they got information in the hands of as many voters as possible, we were proud to partner with them — because everyone should be empowered to participate in their democracy.
Shortly before the election, Governor Landry was overheard at a White House event telling House Speaker Mike Johnson that although he’d expected 12% turnout, “it looks like it may be 18%,” which Johnson said would be “huge” “for an amendment vote.”
Governor Landry was wrong about how wrong he was.
In the end, voter turnout exceeded 21% — almost twice as high as in December’s amendment election.
Over 60% of Louisianans voted no, no, no, no to all four amendments — a resounding defeat for an attempted power grab. Black voters led the way, heading to the ballot box at a higher rate than their white counterparts.
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The Guardian: “Louisiana voters reject far-right governor’s constitutional amendments”
WGNO: “Louisiana voter turnout higher than expected as constitutional amendments fail”
WDSU: “Voter turnout was the highest it's been in a while for the March 29 election”
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Three quick takeaways:
1. Don’t sleep on Louisiana.
2. When more people vote, our democracy grows stronger. It’s galling that some leaders want to win by having fewer people make their voices heard. And you know something’s wrong with a politician’s agenda if they hope that not too many people will notice it and not too many people will vote.
3. These victories could motivate anti-voter leaders to try even harder to silence the will of the people. We already see extremists pushing the SAVE Act in Congress, a modern poll tax that could disenfranchise 21 million Americans — and that’s on top of a nationwide wave of voter suppression legislation.
No matter what attacks come our way, we will continue working to make sure Americans can make their voices heard — in the South and around the country.
And we’re grateful for this grassroots team’s support, which makes our fight possible.
Thank you — and stay tuned for more on what’s around the bend in Louisiana.
The Fair Fight Action Team
P.S. Want to create more victories for democracy? Make a donation to help keep power in the hands of voters.
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