Voter turnout in the parish is looking good, according to Lafayette Parish Clerk of Court Louis Perrett, who adds that, unofficially, turnout was around 17.5% by 2 p.m.
The next tranche of voters is expected when most leave work around 5 p.m. and if current trends continue, the parish could be looking at a 4% increase in turnout over the last midterm election, he tells The Current.
In an unusual move, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division has sent federal poll watchers across all 50 states to observe today’s midterm elections, which could determine whether Trump retains power over the legislative branch.
At least two of those poll watchers are here in Lafayette Parish, driving between voting precincts, observing and taking notes, Lafayette Parish’s Clerk of Court Louis Perret tells The Current, adding that he spoke with the two unnamed watchers earlier in the day.
“They’re just observing; they’re not interfering or stopping or challenging,” Perret says.
They’re tasked with checking whether polling locations are complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act and monitoring any signs of voter intimidation, Perret says, adding that they likely won’t be able to visit every polling location.
Poll watchers have also been sent to East Baton Rouge and Orleans Parish, according to the DOJ. Perret says poll watchers have visited New Orleans and other Louisiana cities in the past, but it’s the first time he can recall seeing them in Lafayette.
“It’s the first time I’ve had it happen here in Lafayette since I’ve been at the clerk’s office for approximately 28 years,” Perret says.
The DOJ has employed election watchers since the enactment of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, the department wrote in a press release. Today is the first time more than 1,000 monitors were sent to all 50 states.
Perret couldn’t say whether the poll watchers have anything to do with President Donald Trump’s pre-emptive suggestions of voter fraud affecting the midterm elections. But despite efforts to present the issue as widespread, the administration has only been able to charge 236 people with alleged voter fraud since Trump took office.
“I don’t work for the Department of Justice, so I don’t know,” Perret says. “As long as we’re not doing anything wrong, we don’t have anything to worry about, and I think Americans in our representative democracy expect free and open elections.”
