Early voting starts Saturday in Jefferson, St. Tammany, St. Bernard and St. John the Baptist parishes, where the April 27 election ballot includes a judge runoff and a handful of tax propositions.
Early voting runs through April 20, excluding Sunday. Early voting locations are open 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The runoff for a seat on the 24th Judicial District Court bench tops the ballot in Jefferson Parish. In that race, Jackie Maloney and Lindsey Valenti are seeking the Division D post that opened in August after Judge Scott Schlegel was elected unopposed to Louisiana's 5th Circuit Court of Appeal.
Valenti secured 39% of the vote in the March 23 primary to Maloney's 37%. Third-place finisher Jerry Smith had 24%.
The position is chosen by voters on Jefferson Parish's east bank, excluding south Kenner. Valenti was chief legal counsel for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office for seven years before stepping down to run. Maloney was an assistant district attorney in Jefferson and Orleans parishes before opening a private practice in 2012.
Voters in Grand Isle, meanwhile, will decide a runoff between James Cheramie and Scooter Resweber for Seat A on the Town Council. Cheramie and Resweber finished first and second, respectively, in the four-candidate primary.
All Jefferson Parish voters will decide a 6.80-mill tax renewal for the Jefferson Parish School Board.
St. Tammany's ballot, meanwhile, includes eight tax propositions, including a sales tax for the Slidell Police Department. That sales tax would replace two property taxes that currently bring in around $1.3 million annually. The sales tax, Police Chief Randy Fandal has said, would generate about $4.5 million annually to cover a range of things including salary increases and a new police department headquarters and city jail.
Also on the St. Tammany ballot are tax propositions for the Florida Parishes Juvenile Justice District, three recreation districts and two fire districts. The Juvenile Justice District includes Tangipahoa, Washington, Livingston and St. Helena parishes as well.
St. Bernard Parish voters will decide a 43-mill tax proposal for fire protection. That millage, if approved, would replace four smaller, separate millages, according to the ballot.
In St. John Parish, voters will consider a charter amendment setting the annual salary for the Parish Council's district members at $19,200 and at-large members at $24,000.