ELECTION CODE: Provides relative to the qualifications of election commissioners

Education Elections

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor: Kim Carver
Last action: 2026-05-15
Official status: Signed by the Governor - Act 158
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Checked against official source text during the last sync.

Qualifications for Election Commissioners

This act changes the qualifications needed to be an election commissioner, allowing certain seventeen-year-old high school students and recent graduates to serve in this role.

What This Bill Does

Changes the age requirement for election commissioners to include people who are at least seventeen years old but under eighteen.
Allows individuals who are not yet eligible to vote but meet other qualifications to be selected as election commissioners.
Requires these young commissioners to be enrolled in or have completed eleventh or twelfth grade from a Louisiana public high school, nonpublic high school, home study program, or received an equivalency diploma.

Who It Names or Affects

High school students who are seventeen years old and in their eleventh or twelfth grade.
Recent graduates of Louisiana high schools or those with equivalency diplomas.
Election commissioners and the process for selecting them.

Terms To Know

qualified voter: A person who is legally allowed to vote in elections.
home study program: An educational program where students learn at home instead of attending a traditional school.

Limits and Unknowns

The act only applies to election commissioners and does not change other aspects of voting or elections.
It is unclear how many young people will actually serve as election commissioners under these new rules.

Bill History

2026-05-15 H
Effective date: 08/01/2026.
2026-05-15 H
Signed by the Governor. Becomes Act No. 158.
2026-05-14 H
Sent to the Governor for executive approval.
2026-05-14 S
Signed by the President of the Senate.
2026-05-13 H
Enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House.
2026-05-13 H
Received from the Senate without amendments.
2026-05-12 S
Rules suspended. Read by title, passed by a vote of 33 yeas and 0 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled.
2026-05-04 S
Reported without Legislative Bureau amendments. Read by title and passed to third reading and final passage.
2026-04-29 S
Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.
2026-04-28 S
Reported favorably.
2026-04-01 S
Read second time by title and referred to the Committee on Senate and Governmental Affairs.
2026-03-31 S
Received in the Senate. Rules suspended. Read first time by title and placed on the Calendar for a second reading.
2026-03-31 H
Read third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 94, nays 6. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate.
2026-03-30 H
Scheduled for floor debate on 03/31/2026.
2026-03-26 H
Read by title, ordered engrossed, passed to 3rd reading.
2026-03-25 H
Reported favorably (12-0).
2026-03-09 H
Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on House and Governmental Affairs.
2026-02-27 H
First appeared in the Interim Calendar on 2/27/2026.
2026-02-25 H
Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on House and Governmental Affairs.
2026-02-25 H
Prefiled.

Official Summary Text

ELECTION CODE: Provides relative to the qualifications of election commissioners

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

ENROLLED
ACT No. 1582026 Regular Session
HOUSE BILL NO. 379
BY REPRESENTATIVE CARVER
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 18:425(B)(5), relative to election commissioners; to provide
3 relative to the qualifications of election commissioners; to authorize a person who
4 is seventeen years old and who is enrolled in the eleventh grade at a high school or
5 participating at the eleventh grade level in a home study program to serve as an
6 election commissioner under certain circumstances; and to provide for related
7 matters.
8 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
9 Section 1. R.S. 18:425(B)(5) is hereby amended and reenacted to read as follows:
10 §425. Commissioners
11 * * *
12 B. Qualifications and classifications.
13 * * *
14 (5) A person who is at least seventeen years of age, under the age of
15 eighteen, and is not a qualified voter but is otherwise qualified to serve as a
16 commissioner pursuant to this Subsection may be selected to serve as a
17 commissioner in any precinct of the ward where he may register to vote pursuant to
18 R.S. 18:101(A), provided that the person is enrolled in the eleventh or twelfth grade
19 of any Louisiana public high school or state-approved nonpublic high school, is
20 participating at the eleventh or twelfth grade level in a home study program approved
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CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.
HB NO. 379 ENROLLED
1 by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, has received a diploma
2 from any Louisiana public high school or state-approved nonpublic high school, has
3 received a diploma for completion of a home study program approved by the State
4 Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, or has been issued a high school
5 equivalency diploma after successfully completing the test of General Educational
6 Development.
7 * * *
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
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CODING: Words in struck through type are deletions from existing law; words underscored
are additions.