Voters in Louisiana approved Amendment 1, a ban on the use of private funding for election administration, by 72.56% on Oct. 14, 2023. With Saturday’s vote, Louisiana became the second state to enact a ban on private funding for election administration in the last week. North Carolina lawmakers overrode Gov. Roy Cooper’s (D) veto of S747, enacting such a ban, on October 10.
North Carolina and Louisiana became the 26th and 27th states to ban private funding and resources for election administration since the start of 2021 legislative sessions and the second and third states to do so this year, after Montana. North Carolina and Louisiana became the fifth and sixth states to adopt private funding prohibition with a divided government. Every other state that has adopted a ban did so with a Republican trifecta.
Louisiana’s new law prohibits state and local governments from using funds, goods, and services donated by foreign governments or nongovernmental (private) sources for the purpose of conducting elections. North Carolina’s law prohibits the state board of elections and county boards of election or commissioners from “accept(ing) private monetary donations or in-kind contributions, directly or indirectly, for conducting elections or employing individuals on a temporary basis.”
