Voter turnout for amendments was less than 11 percent; lowest on record for current constitution
BATON ROUGE — A research group says that of all the constitutional amendments considered in Louisiana over the last 50 years, the four on the ballot Saturday drew the smallest percentage of voters.
Only 10.8 percent of the state's registered voters took part, according to PAR Louisiana. That was just around 332,000 voters.
PAR says Louisiana residents have changed the state constitution 221 times since it was adopted five decades ago. Proposed amendments that land on the ballot in presidential election years have had the highest turnout.
Four years ago, 70 percent of Louisiana's registered voters weighed in — the highest of any presidential election year.
In presidential election years, the average turnout for constitutional questions has averaged 59.9 percent. In non-presidential election years, the figure falls to 32.7 percent.
Since the first amendments were offered in 1978, a total of 321 proposed amendments have made the ballot and the success rate for sponsors is just under 69 percent.
Voters approved all five proposals put on statewide Louisiana ballots this year.
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Four more amendments will go before voters in the spring. Lawmakers developed the next set of questions during a recent special session looking at state tax budget issues.