Higher Voter Turnout Required To Pass Louisiana Tax Increases?

Listening to people whine about taxes is one of the most frustrating things about my job. It only gets to be frustrating when I ask them if they voted and they say no. You do realize that almost all of those taxes had to meet your approval right? Well one Louisiana lawmaker wants to make voter turnout a prerequisite for a tax measure to pass.

Senator Bret Allain of Franklin just might be on to a great idea here. His suggestion is this, in order for any tax measure to be implemented there must be a documented voter turnout of at least 20%. That is only one out of every 5 registered voters casting a ballot.  Allain admits it really isn't a steep hurdle to climb for a tax measure to gain implementation.

"Even if you have a 20% turnout, it only takes 10% of that voting population to pass a tax on the other 90%," said Allain. "I just think there needs to be some type of minimum participation before we separate people from their hard earned money."

Allain's comments were reported by the Louisiana Radio Network.  Allain's proposal is set for discussion the Senate later this week.

It will be interesting to play "what if' with Senator Allain's proposal this weekend. April 5th many municipalities will be going to the polls and extremely low voter turnout is forecast. I wonder how many of the tax measures will pass or fail with even less than one out of 5 citizens casting a ballot?

By the way many Acadiana municipalities and parishes will be holding elections for Mayor, Police Chief, School Board, Alderman and several tax proposals this Saturday. If you live in Acadia, Vermilion, St. Martin, St. Landry, Evangeline, St. Mary, or Iberia Parish you will need to drop by your polling place and let your voice be heard.