BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana hasn't seen a surge in voter registrations in the days since thousands of convicted felons saw their voting rights restored.
Data from the secretary of state's office shows no uptick in the number of felons who registered to vote in February compared to the number who signed up in March. Seventy-eight felons had their voting rights reinstated in February, compared to 68 in March.
On March 1, an estimated 36,000 more felons were eligible to vote under a new law that allowed voter registration for people on probation or parole for a felony if they haven't been incarcerated at least five years.
The true test of interest may come as the Oct. 12 statewide election nears. The deadline to register to vote in that election is in September.
