Louisiana voters prepare to head to the polls on Election Day to decide on 10 proposed constitutional amendments, covering topics such as property taxes and governor term limits, but many say they feel unprepared to make these decisions.
“The voter fatigue. It’s the Louisiana way,” said West Bank native Enjoli Gilbert, who plans to vote on Tuesday.
Gilbert said she believes voter engagement has grown.
“I think people care a lot more now than they did before. Like they want to be more active because they do see the power of our vote,” she said.
Still, Gilbert acknowledged the challenge of understanding the amendments.
“It’s just a little hard for your average voter, you know?” she said.
When shown a breakdown of the amendments on WDSU.com, Gilbert said, “I’m going to have to pull this up when I get home, because I like the idea of telling me what a yes means or what a no means. I appreciate that because sometimes I’m just kind of guessing, you know?”
Joshua Scalf, a dad visiting City Park with his daughter Monday, said he will be at the polls on Election Day.
“I am a regular voter. I vote every election,” he said, adding that he has been working to understand the amendments.
“I’m 10% there. There’s one I’m ready on and nine I’m not,” Scalf said.
First-time voter Luke Briand said being a high school senior preparing for the polls has its advantages.
“I have an AP government class, and so we’ve been, like, learning all about the election in that class,” Briand said. “So I’ve been able to say, like, I think I’m pretty ready to vote tomorrow, and I know, like, what all the amendments and stuff because that stuff’s, like, really complicated to understand.”
Despite his preparation, Briand admitted that some amendments remain unclear.
“I think the property tax ones were definitely like the most confusing, just because like the wording there is like especially like difficult to understand,” he said.
Voters WDSU spoke to said they believe participating in the election is important.
“Everyone should care about what’s going on in our community. So voting is one thing to do that,” Gilbert said.
Louisiana voters are reminded that they are allowed to bring notes to the polls to assist them on Election Day.
READ MORE:Louisiana voters prepare to decide on 10 constitutional amendments
