Louisiana Voting Records

Online Resources

 * 1867-1905 : at FamilySearch - index and images

Voting Rights History

 * By 1856: Universal white male suffrage
 * 1870: The 15th Amendment is passed and prohibits restricting suffrage based on race
 * Early 1890s: Jim Crow Laws passed to revoke African-Americans right to vote
 * 1920: Women are given the right to vote
 * 1965: The Voting Rights Act passes; African-Americans are given back the right to vote

What Can be Found in the Records
For more information about how Voter Records can help your genealogical research see United States Voting Records. Voting records often contain:
 * Name
 * Birth place
 * Residence
 * Years living in city, county, state
 * Whether naturalized, date, court

How to Find Voter Records
Most voter records were kept on the county level (for New England states this should be town level). To see what FamilySearch has for your county (town) of research follow these steps:
 * Go to the FamilySearch Catalog and in the place field type in Louisiana
 * Go to United States, Louisiana
 * Once there, click on "Places within United States, Louisiana"
 * Select the county that contains your town of interest
 * If FamilySearch has voter records for your county, they will be under "Voting Registers"

Family History Library Collection
The Family History Library has a large collection of voting registers of Orleans Parish from 1891 to 1952. The registers are arranged on 293 microfilms by date, ward, and precinct in New Orleans. Indexes are available for the years 1920 to 1948.

The Family History Library does not have registers from most of the other parishes. They are available at the various parish offices.