Electorates to vote on several amendments in Nov.

Louisiana voters can expect to see six amendments and one proposition on their ballot when they visit the polls for the upcoming November 6th election.
The one proposition electorates will cast their vote either in favor of or against concerns permitting fantasy sports contests in the parish of Evangeline. Each parish in Louisiana will determine individually whether or not they will permit fantasy sports.
Fantasy sports includes games like fantasy football, where contestants create teams by drafting players to fill out different positions on their roster.
Currently, people in Louisiana are not allowed to compete in fantasy sports on online sites like DraftKings or FanDuel because the sites charge an entry fee and give out cash prizes. If someone is found to be competing on these sites, they would committing a crime that is punishable by a fine up to $500 and imprisonment for up to six months.
A vote yes for this proposition would be that you are in favor of permitting internet and mobile device fantasy sports contests in Evangeline Parish.
According to the Public Affairs Research Council (PAR), if this proposition passes internet and mobile devices fantasy sports contests would continue to be illegal until state laws and regulations are adopted. These laws and regulations would include how the fantasy sports contests would be taxed.
The first amendment voters will see on their ballot concerns prohibiting felons from seeking or holding office until five years after completion of the a felon’s sentence.
As it stands right now, a non-pardoned convicted felon can qualify to hold office after severing a sentence.
Louisiana voters, in 1998, approved a constitutional amendment to prevent convicted non-pardoned felons from seeking and holding public office for 15 years after completing a sentence. However, in 2016 the Supreme Court ruled the amendment null and void because the Legislature’s final enrolled version of the act left out a provision that authorized felons to qualify for office following completion of probation.
A vote yes for this amendment would mean that you are in favor of having a constitutional amendment prohibiting convicted non-pardoned felons from seeking or holding public office until five years after completion of their sentence. A vote no would continue to allow convicted felons to qualify and hold office after serving a sentence.
Amendment number 2 on the November 6th ballot involves requiring unanimous jury verdicts in noncapital felony cases.
If passed by the voters, this amendment would require all 12 members of a jury to vote guilty for a guilty verdict to be rendered in cases where the punishment would be confinement at hard labor. This requirement would also be necessary for a jury to acquit.
A vote yes for this amendment would mean you are in favor of requirement unanimous verdicts in noncapital felony cases for offenses committed after 2018, while a vote no means you wish to maintain that at least 10 out of 12 jurors must agree to render a guilty verdict or to acquit.
Amendment three concerns allowing local governments to share resources.
Currently, the state constitution prohibits donations or loans by state or local governmental entities except in cases of emergency. However, the Supreme Court has recognized that governmental entities may make agreements to share with each other, but it also ruled that this authority does not relieve entities of the requirement to receive at least equivalent value in exchange for services or assets provided.
A vote for this amendment would mean you are in favor of allowing local governments or other political subdivisions to donate equipment and personnel to other local entities as long as they have a written agreement without a requirement for receiving comparable value.
Amendment four on the ballot involves removing state police’s authority to use money from the Transportation Trust Fund for traffic control purposes.
A vote yes, and passage of this amendment would remove state police for traffic control purposes from the allowed uses of money in the Transportation Trust Fund. If this amendment passes, it would have no immediate impact because no money in the TTF is being used to fund state police at this time; however, the option to use money for state police is still there. A vote no, would mean you are in favor of continuing to have the option to use this money to fund state police.
Amendment five concerns tax exemptions for property held in a trust.
A vote yes for this amendment is a vote in favor of extending special property tax treatments to property in a trust. Those special property tax treatments include property tax exemptions being frozen for homestead owners who are over the age of 65, disabled veterans, surviving spouses of members of the military who were killed in action, or the totally disabled. This would also include the additional $75,000 property tax exemption for disabled veterans or their surviving spouses, and 100 percent tax exemption available for homeowners who are the surviving spouse of a member of the military, state police, local law enforcement or a firefighter who died in the line of duty.
The final amendment on the ballot deals with large tax increases on homes. If this amendment is passed by the voters, any reappraisal resulting in an increased assessment of more than 50 pct. would require the tax collector of the parish to implement the increase by phasing-in the taxes over four years.
A vote no for this amendment would continue to require all homeowners to pay taxes owed on the same basis according to the assessed value.
Early voting for the Nov. 6th election will begin on October 23rd and last until October 30, and will take place at the registrar of voters officer at the Evangeline Parish Courthouse.