BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Many of Louisiana’s election dates would be shifted, if the Senate agrees to a proposal that won support Monday from the House.
The bill (House Bill 591) by Rep. Chris Broadwater, R-Hammond, would move the election date a week earlier for regularly-scheduled state primary elections, but not for congressional and presidential primaries. The general election dates for some municipal elections also would be moved up a week.
The candidate sign-up period also would shift a month earlier for regular elections, except for the presidential primary.
Secretary of State Tom Schedler has sought changes to the elections calendar, saying some of the timelines are so tight that it makes it difficult to account for candidate dropouts and required changes to the ballot.
A 61-28 vote of the House sent Broadwater’s bill to the Senate for debate.
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Both the House and Senate have passed bills that would change the terms used to describe sexual assault crimes.
Authorities currently use “simple rape,” ’’forcible rape” and “aggravated rape” to describe the varying degrees of sexual assault charges. Under proposals backed by each chamber, those terms would be changed to third-degree rape, second-degree rape and first-degree rape.
The House-backed proposal (House Bill 139) by Rep. Valarie Hodges, R-Denham Springs, was approved in 98-0 vote and awaits debate in the Senate. The Senate voted 36-0 Monday for its own version (Senate Bill 117) by Sen. Gary Smith, D-Norco, sending it to the House for consideration.
A bill will have to get through both chambers before heading to the governor’s desk.
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Online:
Louisiana Legislature: www.legis.la.gov
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