Eary Voting Begins Today - Early voting for the April 22nd, New Orleans mayoral election began today at nine satellite polling stations across Louisiana in New Orleans and St. Tammany, Jefferson, East Baton Rouge, Rapides, Caddo, Calcasieu, Lafayette, Ouachita and Terrebonne parishes. These seem like a relatively thorough spread of the state itself, with parishes encompassing all the major cities, including Shreveport (Caddo), Monroe (Ouachita), Alexandria (Rapides), Lake Charles (Calcasieu), Lafayette (Lafayette), Baton Rouge (E. BR), Houma (Terrebonne), and areas around the metropolitan NOLA area (New Orleans, Jefferson, St. Tammany).

I certainly would prefer voting at these stations myself, rather than by absentee ballot, similar to the many evacuees taking the 3 hour+ bus ride from Houston & San Antonio. to get to the closest polling station in Lake Charles. Funny, I did the same thing myself for the 2000 presidential election, thinking that my vote would do better good in New Orleans than in Houston. I was being naive. Well, these stations give me hope that evacuees will have a voice in a election after all.

New York Times
New Orleans Picayune