Municipal and Mayoral elections in New Orleans, April–May 2006 

Hurricane Katrina, August 2005  

On 25 August 2005, Governor Blanco of Louisiana declared a State of Emergency to mobilize National Guard units in the state. At the request of Governor Blanco, President Bush issued an emergency declaration on 27 August and a Federal State of Emergency in Louisiana—to allow federal agencies to assist local authorities’ preparations—before Hurricane Katrina made landfall (KSLA 2005; Schneider 2008). On 29 August 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated coastal areas of the Gulf Coast states – Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The day after, the levees meant to protect the city of New Orleans failed, which resulted in approximately 80 per cent of the city being flooded. The hurricane claimed more than 1,800 lives and displaced over a million residents in the Gulf Coast region, 600,000 in Louisiana alone (National Flood Services 2020; Plyer 2016). As a result of multiple failures in the federal response the Bush administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Army Corps of Engineers faced significant criticism (see e.g., Edwards 2015).   

On 24 September 2005, Hurricane Rita made landfall near the Texas-Louisiana border, causing the recently patched levees to fail again and reflood much of the city, devastating New Orleans’ physical infrastructure. The city did not reopen to the public until October (Brox 2009).   

Impact on the electoral process   

The Municipal and Mayoral elections were postponed from December 2005 to 22 April 2006 with a runoff election on 20 May 2006. At the time of the Municipal elections almost two-thirds of the New Orleans population was not living in the city. Louisiana and other Gulf states lost voting equipment, polling stations were decimated and there was a lack of poll workers. There was also the challenge of locating displaced citizens who had not yet established a permanent address one year following the floods (Brox 2009).  

Early voting began on 10 April 2006. For five days, voters were allowed to vote early at satellite voting locations established throughout the state of Louisiana. In addition, voters could cast absentee ballots through the mail. State and federal governments helped get ballots to Louisiana voters by establishing early voting at an increased number of locations, new polling stations in locations with many displaced persons, and fewer restrictions on receiving an absentee ballot by mail at a different address (Brox 2009).  

Turnout at the Municipal elections was 36 per cent. (Note that voter turnout for the November 2006 Presidential elections among Louisiana residents was 31.4 per cent) (US Elections Project 2011).