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VIDALIA, La. — On Tuesday, Nov. 5, voters across the nation will be heading to and watching the polls to see who will become the next President and Vice President of the United States.

Because this is a Presidential Election, Louisiana polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

With 18 percent fewer early votes received than during the 2020 presidential election, the election turnout thus far for Tuesday’s presidential election has been very good for Concordia Parish, election officials said.

Concordia Parish Registrar of Voters Golda Ensminger said as early voting ended this week, a total of 2,951 early votes were received.

“It has been a great turnout,” Ensminger said.

Additionally, 549 mail-in ballots were requested and 398 of them have been returned, she said.

Any mail-in ballots that are not received by the registrar’s office on Monday before the election will not be counted, with Friday, Nov. 1, being the last day to request a mailed ballot, she added.

“We don’t count anything after the election like some other states. Our results are posted the same night.”

Louisiana is one of many states that offers early, in-person voting in addition to mail-in voting, however, the results of these votes are not recorded until the night of the election.

The parish has 12,427 registered voters for this election.

During the Nov. 3, 2020, presidential election, Concordia parish recorded 8,828 total votes, 3,591 of which were early votes.

The number of early votes in the parish was significantly higher than in the 2016 presidential election when the parish recorded 2,218 early votes of the 8,872 votes received.

“It makes the day go faster to have a good turnout,” Ensminger said. “We like to know that people are interested in the election.”

Tuesday’s presidential election is also Louisiana’s open primary election for the United States House of Representatives.

Concordia Parish voters have the choice of two Republicans, Incumbent Julia Letlow and M.V. “Vinny” Mendoza, or Democrat Michael Vallien Jr. for the 5th Congressional District.

It’s possible that who gets the seat will be decided on Tuesday if one of them has more than 50 percent of the total votes for the district. However, Ensminger said with three candidates to choose from, there could be a runoff, which would take place on Dec. 7. Polls do not open until 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. for Saturday elections in Louisiana.

As with any election, Ensminger reminded parish voters to “bring a current Louisiana license or state-issued ID card with them” to the polls Tuesday.

She also reminded voters that early voting for the Dec. 7 election begins Nov. 22 and ends Nov. 30. Polls then will be open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. except for Sunday, Nov. 24, Thursday, Nov. 28 for Thanksgiving, and Nov. 29, Ensminger said.

Early votes in Concordia Parish can be cast at the Concordia Parish Courthouse at 4001 Carter St., Suite K.