Some Louisianians are warning the state’s postponement of House primaries, while still holding primaries for other races, is fueling more confusion for voters.
Louisiana GOP Gov. Jeff Landry issued an executive order on Friday suspending the House races to July 15 unless the legislature chooses another date. But the House races will still appear on the ballot for the May 16 elections — meaning people can vote in the race, but their vote for that office won’t count.
Landry’s order came a day after the Supreme Court struck down the state’s second majority-Black congressional district as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
In this Jan. 17, 2025, file photo, Jeff Landry, governor of Louisiana, is shown during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing in Washington, D.C.
Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE
At least two lawsuits have been filed against the order arguing that Landry does not have the authority to suspend the House primaries.
Some early voters have already expressed uncertainty over the situation.
“It’s a lot of chaos. A lot of people thinking we shouldn’t vote today or there’s no election,” Al Matthews, a Baton Rouge voter, told ABC News affiliate WBRZ.
And Jenny, a voter in New Orleans, told ABC News affiliate WGNO, “I was like, ‘Are we still voting? Is the election happening?’ So yes, I did have to check if we were in fact voting at all.”
Trey Williams, a spokesman for the secretary of state’s office, told ABC News that the names of House candidates will appear on the ballot for early voters and on May 16.
“It was too late in the process to have to reprogram the [voting] software,” Williams said. Votes for other offices will still be counted, but those for the House will not.
Voters check in before casting their ballots on the first day of early voting at the Louisiana State Archives on May 2, 2026, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Tyler Kaufman/Getty Images
Williams said there will be signage at the precincts that will help voters understand the changes.
Whether candidates who have qualified will have to pay new filing fees remains an open question, and Williams said he’s unable to answer that yet.
A number of party primaries remain on the ballot for May 16, including Senate, the Public Service Commission, the state Supreme Court and state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. There are also five proposed constitutional amendments.
Louisiana GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy, who is fighting for reelection, criticized Landry’s decision to keep the Senate primary date, calling it a “disappointing” move in a statement posted to X on Thursday.
In a press call on Monday, Cassidy said his campaign is rolling out “a major get-out the vote effort,” adding that some voters learned the U.S. House primaries were postponed and “inevitably” think the Senate primaries have been delayed as well.
Sen. Bill Cassidy speaks to media on the first day of early voting outside of the Louisiana State Archives on May 2, 2026, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Tyler Kaufman/Getty Images
“That could be a problem, and we’re going to hand Democrats a win if voters don’t know when to vote. They’re already running to the courts,” Cassidy said. “So Louisiana deserves to have a say in who their next U.S. Senator is, and so every voter do their part and get out and vote.”
Landry and President Donald Trump are backing Rep. Julia Letlow’s campaign to unseat Cassidy. Louisiana Treasurer John Fleming, who served in multiple roles in the first Trump administration, is also in the race.
Asked whether Landry’s decision to postpone the primaries was intended to hurt his campaign, Cassidy said, “I don’t know that. I think we’re here to serve the voter.”
“Your vote is your voice. If you want your voice to be heard, please vote. And that’s the only thing that the voter and I can control, to get out and vote,” he said, urging voters to not let anything “defeat an exercise in democracy in determining who will be the next senator.”
In this Feb. 17, 2026, file photo, people walk around Bourbon Street in the French Quarter on Mardi Gras Day, in New Orleans.
Matthew Hinton/AP, FILE
Michael McClanahan, president of the NAACP Louisiana State Conference, told ABC News that he’s fielding questions from Louisianians asking what the Supreme Court ruling means for their vote. The group is a plaintiff in one of the lawsuits challenging the delay of the congressional primaries.
“We battle because we know that our fight is not in vain,” he said. “We’re going to galvanize voters. We’re going to hold these persons that are in office accountable, and we’re going to call them out, and then wherever it takes us to ensure that our voices are heard, our voices are respected.”
Kristine Breithaupt, a Louisiana political consultant, told ABC News some voters are expressing concerns over whether their votes count at all.
“I talked to one voter this past weekend who said that she had already turned in her absentee ballot, but she asked me if the election was canceled,” Breithaupt said.
Breithaupt said mixed messaging from national and local groups is also complicating voter education efforts.
“National organizations are raising money saying that there’s a Republican effort to cancel our elections, which causes people to think that all the elections were canceled,” she said. “But progressive organizations here in New Orleans are saying, ‘Cast your vote anyway. Vote up and down the ballot.'”
As of May 1 — when Landry postponed the House primaries — more than 41,000 absentee ballots had been received, according to the Louisiana Secretary of State office. Votes are not counted until Election Day when polls close.
As of May 4, more than 104,000 voters had already cast a ballot, according to the Secretary of State office. More than 45,000 Louisianians had voted absentee and more than 59,000 had voted in person.
