Early voting numbers in Bossier Parish were impressive and parish Registrar of Voters Stephanie Agee believes there are a couple of reasons that led to the large turnout.
With closing of the polls Tuesday evening, Agee said 6,244 people had voted early both in person and by absentee ballot during then one week period. More than 4,500 of those cast ballots at one of two early voting locations. Roughly 1,000 voted Tuesday, the final day.
From July 15 to October 28, there was an increase of 1,074 registered voters in Bossier Parish.
“We’ve made it much more convenient for people in the southern portion of the parish to vote with the addition of the new polling place inside the History Center at the library in Bossier City,” she said. “In fact, we had a few more vote at the library on the final day than those at the courthouse.”
As of today, Bossier Parish ROV has mailed out 2969 Mail Ballots with 1822 returned. This is a return percentage of 61.14 percent.
Agee said Bossier voters have become more aware of issues in their elections and they like the convenience of early voting to avoid the possibility of long lines and delays on Election Day.
“We are very happy with these numbers, especially when you consider they are better than half of the Shreveport total and Shreveport has double our registered voters,” she said. “And, voters there had a mayor’s race on the early ballot.”
As of Tuesday, October 30, 2018:  In Person Votes for Benton was 2,470, Bossier City 2,022. Mail Ballots Returned for Benton/Bossier City was 1,752. Total Votes of 6,244.
Agee hopes the good early turnout in this election establishes a trend among Bossier Parish voters.
“I think we’re going to see good numbers in our general election,” she said. “Now that people know we have two convenient locations where they can vote, I believe the turnout will continue to improve.”
