//Run for office · Louisiana

How to run for local office in Louisiana

Louisiana local races are open primaries with a runoff five weeks later, you qualify at the parish clerk of court in a three-day window, and the state sells the voter list, with phone numbers, for a penny a name.

Facts checked against official sources · September 9, 2026

Louisiana is built around parishes, not counties. You register with the parish registrar of voters, you qualify for a parish or municipal office at the parish clerk of court's office (state offices qualify with the Secretary of State), and you vote early at the registrar's office. Local elections use the open primary: every candidate for an office, regardless of party, appears on one ballot, and if nobody clears 50 percent the top two meet in the general election about five weeks later. Qualifying is a three-day period set by statute; for the February 6, 2027 spring primary it runs January 5 to 7, 2027, and the runoff is March 13, 2027.

The data side is unusually good. The Secretary of State's voter list portal sells any selection of voters for $0.01 per name (minimum $20, maximum $5,000, plus a $5 state fee) as a tab-delimited file that includes party, race, sex, age, phone number, last vote date, every district the voter sits in, and, at no extra charge, the last 20 elections each voter participated in. Campaign finance runs through the Louisiana Board of Ethics for every office, but most municipal, police jury, and school board seats are 'any other office' filers who only have to report once they raise or spend more than $5,000, with a $2,000 per-election contribution limit.

Election authority: Louisiana Secretary of State, Elections and Voting
Voter file: Public record — anyone can obtain it · $0.01 per name, minimum $20 and maximum $5,000 per list, plus a $5 state fee per order and a $5 convenience fee for credit card payment (Voter List Charges and Other Information sheet, rev. 07/2024). Voter history is included at no additional charge.
Campaign finance: LEADERS Online (required for major and district office candidates; optional for any other office candidates, who may also file paper by upload, mail, hand delivery, or fax) (Louisiana Board of Ethics, Ethics Administration Program (campaign finance))
How voters vote: In person, with excuse-required absentee voting
Registration deadline: 30 days before an election for in-person, mail, and Office of Motor Vehicles registrations (postmarked by the 30th day), or 20 days before for online registration through the Secretary of State's GeauxVote portal with a Louisiana driver's license or special ID. For the February 6, 2027 primary: January 6, 2027 in person or by mail, January 16 online.
Local offices: Local and legislative offices use Louisiana's open primary: all candidates run on one ballot with a party label shown, and the top two advance to the general election if no one wins a majority. Starting in 2026 only Congress, the Supreme Court, BESE, and the Public Service Commission use closed party primaries (Acts 1 of the 2024 First Extraordinary Session and 640 of 2024). Parish and municipal candidates are listed with their party registration but any voter may vote for any of them.

Who runs elections in Louisiana

Louisiana Secretary of State, Elections and Voting The Secretary of State sets the election calendar, publishes the qualifying fee and petition schedule and the qualifications for every office, qualifies candidates for congressional and state offices, sells voter lists through the Voter Portal, and posts early voting and post-election statistics. Local candidates interact with it for the calendar, the forms, and the voter list; they qualify at the parish clerk of court. Election Services: 225.922.0900 or 800.883.2805.

Each parish has a registrar of voters who registers voters, maintains the rolls, runs early voting at the registrar's office and designated sites, and processes absentee-by-mail ballots. The parish clerk of court accepts qualifying papers for parish and municipal offices and serves as the parish's chief election officer on election day. The Secretary of State publishes a combined clerk of court and registrar of voters list with every parish office.

Getting the Louisiana voter file

The voter file is the list of every registered voter, with the fields a campaign needs to target: address, party where the state records it, and vote history. In Louisiana it comes from Louisiana Secretary of State, Voter List Portal (Election Services).

Access: Public record — anyone can obtain it
Cost: $0.01 per name, minimum $20 and maximum $5,000 per list, plus a $5 state fee per order and a $5 convenience fee for credit card payment (Voter List Charges and Other Information sheet, rev. 07/2024). Voter history is included at no additional charge.
Format: Tab-delimited text file (opens in Excel up to 1,048,576 rows), or PDF lists with or without district columns, or PDF mailing labels formatted for Avery 5363. Voter history comes in the same file as 20 extra columns or as a separate file keyed on parish and registration number.
Vote history: Included
Phone numbers: Included where on file
Updated: Produced on demand when you order; the download link expires seven days after purchase. Reorder for a fresh pull. Custom selections (specific precincts, election dates, special districts) are processed by Election Services staff and emailed when ready.

Who can get it: Anyone who creates an account on the Voter Portal's commercial requests page can define selection criteria, review a cost estimate, and pay in advance. The list is emailed as a download link valid for seven days.

Permitted use: Sold through the Secretary of State's commercial request portal for political, mailing, and other uses; pricing is set by administrative rule and is non-negotiable. Confirm any restrictions on your intended use with Election Services before ordering.

County option: Parish and precinct selection is built into the state portal, so there is no separate parish file to buy. Your parish registrar of voters can help with selection questions and walk-list ordering.

Fields in the text file: parish, ward, precinct, name, residence and mailing address, sex, race, party, age, voter status, registration date, registration number, phone number, last vote date, and district codes for appeals court, BESE, city, congressional, district court, justice of the peace, police jury, public service, state representative, school board, state senate, supreme court, and tax ward. A residence walk-list order field is available on request.
Voter history covers the last 20 elections per voter as election date plus parish; new voters and non-participants have no history rows.
Special taxing districts are not included unless you ask for them in a custom request.

Whatever file you get, Culper imports it as a CSV and maps the columns for you. See how to read a voter file for what the fields mean.

Filing to run for local office in Louisiana

You qualify by filing a notice of candidacy during a three-day qualifying period fixed by statute (R.S. 18:467, 18:467.1, 18:468) and either paying the qualifying fee or filing a nominating petition signed by voters eligible to vote for the office. Local candidates qualify at the parish clerk of court; congressional and state candidates qualify at the Secretary of State's office in Baton Rouge. For police jury or parish council and school board seats you must be 18 by the qualifying date, have lived in Louisiana for the preceding two years, and have been domiciled in the district for the preceding year (R.S. 33:1225; school board members also need a high school diploma or equivalent); parish home rule charters can add qualifications and term limits.

File with: Parish and municipal offices (police jury or parish council, school board, sheriff, assessor, clerk of court, coroner, parish president, mayor, council or aldermen, justice of the peace, constable): the clerk of court of the parish. State legislative, judicial, statewide, and congressional offices: the Secretary of State.
Filing fee: Per the SOS fee sheet (rev. 06/2026) for candidates qualifying with the clerk of court, Orleans Parish excepted: police juror or parish council member and school board member, $115 state fee plus a $25 campaign sign recycling fee, plus a $57.50 state central committee fee and up to $57.50 parish executive committee fee for Democratic and Republican candidates if assessed; parish-wide offices (sheriff, clerk of court, assessor, coroner, parish president) $225 plus $25, plus $112.50 and up to $112.50 for major-party candidates; state representative $225 plus $25. Municipal offices scale with the municipality's population: $40 (under 5,000), $75 (5,000 to 24,999), $150 (25,000 to 49,999), $225 (50,000 to 99,999), $300 (100,000 to 299,999), or $375 (300,000 or more), each plus the $25 sign fee and party fees of half the state fee for major-party candidates. Orleans Parish mayor and council: $375 plus $25. Paid in cash, certified or cashier's check, or money order (R.S. 18:464).
Petition: In lieu of the fee (R.S. 18:465(C)): 100 signatures of voters eligible to vote for the office for police juror, parish council, or school board; 400 for parish-wide offices and state representative; 500 for district attorney. Municipal offices by population of the municipality: 50 (under 5,000), 200 (5,000 to 24,999), 300 (25,000 to 49,999), 500 (50,000 to 99,999), 750 (100,000 to 299,999), 1,000 (300,000 or more, and Orleans Parish mayor and council). Signatures must come from voters eligible to vote on that office.
Partisan?: Local and legislative offices use Louisiana's open primary: all candidates run on one ballot with a party label shown, and the top two advance to the general election if no one wins a majority. Starting in 2026 only Congress, the Supreme Court, BESE, and the Public Service Commission use closed party primaries (Acts 1 of the 2024 First Extraordinary Session and 640 of 2024). Parish and municipal candidates are listed with their party registration but any voter may vote for any of them.

Filing window: A three-day qualifying period set by law, opening roughly eight weeks before the primary; the Secretary of State posts the exact dates for each election on its election dates page. For the February 6, 2027 spring primary, qualifying is January 5 to 7, 2027. For the November 3, 2026 fall election it was August 5 to 7, 2026. Fall 2027 statewide and parish elections will follow the same three-day rule once the dates are posted.

Key Louisiana dates
What	When	Note
Qualifying period, February 6, 2027 spring primary (parish and municipal offices)	January 5, 2027	Three days, January 5 to 7, 2027, at the parish clerk of court (SOS election dates page). Three-day rule: R.S. 18:467.
Voter registration deadline, February 6, 2027 primary	January 6, 2027	30 days before for in-person, mail, and OMV registrations; online registration through January 16, 2027.
Early voting, February 6, 2027 primary	January 23, 2027	January 23 to 30, 2027, excluding Sunday January 24, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the registrar of voters. Mail ballot requests due February 2 by 4:30 p.m.
Spring primary election	February 6, 2027	Open primary; a candidate with a majority wins outright.
Voter registration deadline, March 13, 2027 general	February 10, 2027	Online registration through February 20, 2027. Early voting February 27 to March 6 (excluding Sunday February 28); mail ballot requests due March 9.
Spring general (runoff) election	March 13, 2027	Top two from the primary if no majority.
Qualifying period, fall 2027 statewide and parish elections	Varies	Three-day period set by R.S. 18:467 about eight weeks before the October primary; the Secretary of State posts it on the election dates page once the 2027 fall calendar is published.

Candidates in the armed forces stationed or deployed outside the U.S. pay no qualifying fee (R.S. 18:461(A)(1)).
Qualifying deadlines are receipt deadlines at the clerk of court's office; the fee must be cash, certified or cashier's check, or a money order made payable as the clerk directs.

Campaign finance rules in Louisiana

State-level campaign finance in Louisiana is overseen by Louisiana Board of Ethics, Ethics Administration Program (campaign finance) through LEADERS Online (required for major and district office candidates; optional for any other office candidates, who may also file paper by upload, mail, hand delivery, or fax).

Where local candidates file: Every Louisiana candidate files with the Board of Ethics in Baton Rouge, not with the clerk of court. What changes is the office level. Legislators, parish-wide offices (sheriff, assessor, clerk of court, parish president) outside East Baton Rouge, Jefferson, Orleans, and St. Tammany, offices in districts of 35,000 to 250,000 people, and city-wide offices in Alexandria, Bossier City, Kenner, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, and Shreveport are 'district office' filers who must e-file every report. Everything smaller, which covers most city councils, police jury districts, and school board districts, is an 'any other office' seat: you file only once you spend more than $5,000 or receive more than $5,000 in contributions other than your own money, and once you cross that line you keep filing for the rest of that election. Use the Board's Candidate Level of Office search to confirm your seat's tier before you raise a dollar.

Contribution limits: Per election, and each primary and general counts separately (R.S. 18:1505.2(H), as summarized by the Board of Ethics, rev. 10/15/2025): $2,000 to an 'any other office' candidate, $6,000 to a district office candidate, and $12,000 to a major office candidate, from any individual, family member, legal entity, or committee. A 'big' political committee may give double those amounts ($4,000, $12,000, $24,000). Loans, guarantees, in-kind contributions, and transfers all count toward the limit; the candidate's own funds and ordinary-course bank loans do not.

Reporting: All candidates who must report file a 30th-day-before-primary (30-P) and 10th-day-before-primary (10-P) report, a 10th-day-before-general (10-G) report, and a 40th-day-after-general (40-G) report if they were in the general, plus an annual report by February 15 covering the prior calendar year. Major office candidates add 180-P and 90-P reports. In the 20 days before an election, a contribution over $500 to an 'any other office' candidate (over $1,000 district, over $2,000 major) triggers a special report within 2 business days. For the November 3, 2026 primary the Board's schedule set 30-P due October 5, 10-P October 26, 10-G December 2, and 40-G January 21, 2027.

Late filing penalties for 'any other office' candidates are $40 per day up to $500; the Board must object to the candidacy of anyone with an unpaid campaign finance fine, so a missed report can keep you off a future ballot.
Records of every contribution and expenditure must be kept for two years after your last report for the election.

Limits and thresholds change. Treat the figures here as a starting point and confirm the current schedule with Louisiana Board of Ethics, Ethics Administration Program (campaign finance) before you accept a check. Our campaign finance basics guide covers the bookkeeping every local candidate needs on day one.

How voting works in Louisiana

In person, with excuse-required absentee voting. Louisiana voters vote in person, either during a one-week early voting period at the parish registrar of voters or on election day at their precinct, with a driver's license, Louisiana special ID, or military ID (or by signing an affidavit without one). Mail ballots are limited to voters with a listed reason, including age 65 or older, disability, students and clergy outside the parish, those who moved more than 100 miles away, offshore workers, hospitalized voters, and sequestered jurors.

Early voting: In person from 14 days to 7 days before every election (18 days before a presidential election), 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sundays excluded, at the parish registrar of voters office and other designated sites. For the February 6, 2027 primary that is January 23 to 30, 2027 (skipping Sunday January 24); for the March 13, 2027 general, February 27 to March 6.
Mail ballots: Excuse required (65 or older, disability, temporary absence from the parish, students, clergy, hospitalization, incarceration without a felony conviction, and other listed categories). Apply to the parish registrar; the application must arrive by 4:30 p.m. on the fourth day before election day (February 2, 2027 for the February 6 primary). The voted ballot must reach the registrar by 4:30 p.m. the day before election day; military and overseas voters have until 8 p.m. on election day.
Registration deadline: 30 days before an election for in-person, mail, and Office of Motor Vehicles registrations (postmarked by the 30th day), or 20 days before for online registration through the Secretary of State's GeauxVote portal with a Louisiana driver's license or special ID. For the February 6, 2027 primary: January 6, 2027 in person or by mail, January 16 online.
Same-day registration: No

Knowing who has already voted: The Secretary of State publishes cumulative early voting statistics statewide and by parish one business day after each day of the early voting period (Saturday's numbers post Monday), covering in-person and mail voters; those are counts by parish, not names. For names, the voter list portal is the tool: each record carries a last-vote date and the last 20 elections voted, and custom requests let you specify election dates, so order a fresh pull after early voting closes to see who participated, and ask Election Services (225.922.0900) or your parish registrar whether a mid-window early voter list is available for the current election.

Local government in Louisiana: what you can run for

Louisiana is divided into parishes rather than counties. Most parishes are governed by a police jury elected by district; parishes with home rule charters have a parish council and an elected parish president instead, and a few have consolidated city-parish governments. Sheriff, clerk of court, assessor, and coroner are elected parish-wide. Each parish has one school board elected by district (some cities keep separate systems). Municipalities elect a mayor and council or board of aldermen, with qualifying fees and petition counts that scale with the municipality's population. Justices of the peace and constables are elected by ward. Parish home rule charters can set their own qualifications and term limits, so read yours before you qualify.

Police juror or parish council member
Parish president
School board member
Mayor
Council member or alderman
Sheriff
Clerk of court
Assessor
Coroner
Justice of the peace
Constable
State representative
State senator

When local elections happen: Louisiana runs a spring election cycle in odd-numbered years for municipal offices (primary in February or March, general about five weeks later: February 6 and March 13, 2027 on the current SOS calendar) and a fall cycle in odd-numbered years for governor, legislature, and parish offices such as sheriff, police jury, and school board, with the primary and general dates posted by the Secretary of State once the calendar is set. Even-numbered years carry the federal and judicial elections in November with a December general (November 3 and December 12, 2026). Individual municipalities and parishes set which cycle they use, so check the SOS election dates page for your office.

Every Louisiana election has two rounds by design: an open primary, then a general (runoff) about five weeks later for any office where no candidate won a majority. Budget for both from the start.

Running your Louisiana campaign on Culper

Culper does not license voter data in Louisiana today. You upload the Louisiana voter file described above as a CSV, and every feature runs on it: search and lists, plain-English queries, texting and email, block walking, and volunteer coordination. Online donation processing is in development; ask about timing on the onboarding call. Your file stays in your campaign's workspace and is never shared with another campaign.

Set up your Louisiana campaign in an afternoon

Upload the voter file, ask for your first list in plain English, and hand your volunteers the walking app. Signup is open to candidates in every state. Pricing is set after a short call so it matches the size of the race.

Get started Book a demo

Louisiana questions we get asked

When and where do I qualify to run for city council or school board in Louisiana?

Louisiana candidates for parish and municipal offices qualify at the parish clerk of court's office during a three-day qualifying period fixed by statute (R.S. 18:467). For the February 6, 2027 spring primary the period is January 5 to 7, 2027; the Secretary of State posts each election's dates on its election dates page. You file a notice of candidacy and either pay the fee (for example, $115 plus a $25 sign fee for school board or police jury, more for major-party candidates) or file a nominating petition (100 signatures for those offices).

How much does the Louisiana voter list cost, and what is in it?

The Louisiana Secretary of State sells voter lists through its Voter Portal at $0.01 per name, minimum $20, maximum $5,000, plus a $5 state fee per order. The tab-delimited file includes name, residence and mailing address, ward and precinct, party, race, sex, age, phone number, registration date, last vote date, and every district the voter is in, and the last 20 elections each voter voted in are included free. You can also buy PDF lists and Avery-formatted mailing labels.

What are Louisiana's contribution limits for local candidates?

It depends on the office tier under the Campaign Finance Disclosure Act. Most Louisiana municipal, police jury, and school board seats are 'any other office' with a $2,000 per-election limit from any person or committee; parish-wide offices and districts over 35,000 people are 'district office' seats with a $6,000 limit; statewide and the largest parish-wide offices are 'major office' at $12,000. The primary and the general are separate elections for limit purposes. Check your seat with the Board of Ethics' Candidate Level of Office search.

Do small-town Louisiana candidates have to file campaign finance reports?

Only after they cross $5,000. A Louisiana 'any other office' candidate must start filing with the Board of Ethics once the campaign spends more than $5,000 or receives more than $5,000 in contributions other than the candidate's own funds, and then keeps filing 30-P, 10-P, 10-G, and 40-G reports for the rest of that election. District and major office candidates file from the start and must use the Board's LEADERS e-filing system.

How does early voting work in Louisiana, and can I see who has voted?

Louisiana early voting runs from 14 days to 7 days before each election, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. except Sundays, at the parish registrar of voters office (January 23 to 30, 2027 for the February 6 primary). The Secretary of State posts cumulative early voting statistics by parish one business day after each day of early voting. For voter-level data, the voter list portal sells lists with last-vote date and 20 elections of history, and custom requests can target specific election dates.

Are Louisiana local elections partisan?

Louisiana local and legislative races use the open primary: every candidate is on one ballot with a party label, any registered voter can vote for any of them, and the top two go to a general election about five weeks later if no one wins a majority. Only congressional, Supreme Court, BESE, and Public Service Commission races moved to closed party primaries in 2026. A police jury or council candidate does not need a party's nomination to run.

Keep reading

Sources

Facts on this page were checked against the official sources below on September 9, 2026. Rules change between cycles; when a number here and the agency disagree, the agency is right.