§192. Annual canvass; costs

NOTE: Paragraph (A)(1) eff. until June 12, 2025, for certain purposes, and eff. until Jan. 1, 2026, for all other purposes. See Acts 2025, No. 386.

            A.(1) No later than June thirtieth, the registrar of voters of each parish in conjunction with the Department of State shall annually canvass the names of the registrants in all precincts in the parish. Failure of the registrar to conduct an annual canvass as provided in this Subsection shall constitute willful misconduct relating to his official duty for the purposes of R.S. 18:53. The Department of State shall use address data obtained pursuant to a written agreement from another state or federal governmental agency or private vendor that provides voter registration eligibility or address data to verify the names and addresses of the registrants in all precincts in the state. A verification of address data shall constitute a valid canvass of the registered voter.

NOTE: Paragraph (A)(1) eff. June 12, 2025, for certain purposes, and eff. Jan. 1, 2026, for all other purposes. See Acts 2025, No. 386.

            A.(1) No later than July thirty-first, the registrar of voters of each parish in conjunction with the Department of State shall annually canvass the names of the registrants in all precincts in the parish. Failure of the registrar to conduct an annual canvass as provided in this Subsection shall constitute willful misconduct relating to his official duty for the purposes of R.S. 18:53. The Department of State shall use address data obtained pursuant to a written agreement from another state or federal governmental agency or private vendor that provides voter registration eligibility or address data to verify the names and addresses of the registrants in all precincts in the state. A verification of address data shall constitute a valid canvass of the registered voter.

            (2) In conducting the verification, if the obtained address data indicates a corrected address, the Department of State shall furnish the corrected address to the appropriate registrar of voters. Upon receiving a corrected address inside the parish, either the Department of State or the registrar of voters shall update the voter's address on the statewide registration system and mail a new voter information card to the voter using the corrected address provided and an address confirmation notice as provided in R.S. 18:193. If the new voter information card using the corrected address is returned to the registrar and the voter has failed to return the address confirmation notice, the registrar shall consider the address not corrected. The registrar shall change his records to reflect the prior address on file for that voter. If the corrected address is outside of the parish, the registrar of voters shall not make the change on his records and shall send an address confirmation notice as provided in R.S. 18:193.

            (3) The parish governing authority shall provide to the registrar of voters the funding necessary for the mailing of new voter information cards in the conduct of the canvass.

            B.(1) No later than June thirtieth, the Department of State shall conduct an annual canvass as provided in this Subsection. Using information available in the state voter registration computer system, the secretary of state shall identify registrants who meet all of the following criteria:

            (a) The registrant's name did not appear with a corrected address provided by the United States Postal Service or its licensee pursuant to Subsection A of this Section.

            (b) The registrant failed to engage in any of the following activities in the past ten years: vote in an election; make an application for voter registration; request an absentee ballot; validly sign a petition submitted to the registrar of voters for certification pursuant to law; change a name, address, or party affiliation or nonaffiliation; make any other change in registration; or participate in the nursing home program.

            (2) The Department of State shall send an address confirmation notice to each identified registrant and transfer the registrant to the inactive list of voters.

            Acts 1976, No. 697, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1978; Acts 1977, No. 544, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1978; Acts 1986, No. 669, §1; Acts 1989, No. 179, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1990; Acts 1989, No. 652, §1; Acts 1990, No. 107, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991; Acts 1990, No. 142, §1; Acts 1991, No. 201, §3, eff. Dec. 31, 1991; Acts 1994, 3rd Ex. Sess., No. 10, §§1, 2, eff. Jan. 1, 1995; Acts 2001, No. 451, §6, eff. Jan. 12, 2004; H.C.R. 2, 2005 1st Ex. Sess., eff. Nov. 20, 2005; Acts 2008, No. 519, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2009; Acts 2009, No. 218, §1; Acts 2023, No. 91, §1, eff. June 6, 2023; Acts 2024, No. 2, §1, eff. March 31, 2025; Acts 2024, No. 640, §1, eff. See Act; Acts 2025, No. 386, §1, eff. Aug. 1, 2025, §2, eff. See Act.