As the qualifying period for the Oct. 11 election came to a close last Friday, multiple seats were left without qualifiers. A majority of these vacant seats are in rural parts of northern Louisiana.
It’s a common occurrence for very small rural communities to go without a qualifier. Since the 2024 presidential election, there have been 64 seats statewide that failed to be filed through the ballot.
Bienville Parish, which has a population of just under 13,000 people, has had the most unfilled seats in the state since the last presidential election. The parish won’t have an election in October, since the races either had no qualifiers or went uncontested. .
“Every cycle that comes through in small towns, we usually end up with a position that didn't get filled,” said Bienville Parish Clerk of Court Eddie Williams.
Lucky is a village in Bienville, and its small population—around 200 people—is a reason many seats remain empty.
“It's just simply because it is an aging community, a struggling community. Basically their infrastructure is still in place to keep their water system running,” Williams said.
During the qualifying period for the Oct. 11 election, Lucky had two aldermen seats and a police chief opening, none of which found a qualifier.
According to the Louisiana Secretary of State’s office, the empty seats will be filled by the governor, then a special election will be held to try to fill them again.
That said, the aldermen seats already forced a special election, which was unsuccessful in finding candidates to fill the spots.
Melanie Smith Johnson is the interim director of the Jewel Limar Prestage Public Policy, Polling, and Research Center at Southern University. She says that there are many factors at play, but one of them is financials.
“So many people feel why bother, bother to do this because ‘we can't make a difference anyway because we have a low tax base,” Smith Johnson said.
A low tax base means there’s not a lot of money to go around, so these positions are often underpaid. Smith Johnson says that can be a problem for those who rely on a full-time job because of the time commitment.
”The time constraints to do what they really need is not gonna be there,” Smith Johnson said.
One potential solution would be increasing the salary, which could force them to raise taxes. But that runs into another potential barrier to office, not wanting to deal with public scrutiny.
Smith Johnson says that rural communities are close knit, so people don’t want to go against the grain.
The challenges that come with political engagement are not unique to Louisiana.—the same thing happens nationwide. But in some states, voters can still elect a candidate through write-in votes when the ballot is blank.
Brianna Lennon, a county clerk in Missouri and co-host of the podcast “High Turnouts Wide Margins,” says one of the cities she oversees prefers electing officials by write-in.
“Someone has filed and that person that filed did not win because the community was not pleased,” Lennon said.
The Missourians use word of mouth and the closeness of community to their advantage. And that’s already happening in Louisiana too.
The difference is that Louisiana has a specific time window candidates must meet to qualify for elections.
Smith Johnson says write-ins may help address some of the issues rural candidates face.
“They wouldn't have to spend as much money because of the lack of resources. I think that, that it would probably take away the fear of public scrutiny,” Smith Johnson said.
But until something changes, seats will remain empty and appointing someone to office will not be done on the ballot.
