§ La. R.S. 18:428(untitled)

Law enforcement assistance to commissioners
A. Presence at polling places on election day. Law enforcement officers shall not be stationed at
polling places on election day, but the commissioners or the clerk of court may summon law enforcement
officers to assist them in preserving order, enforcing the election laws, or protecting election officials from
interference with the performance of their duties. Law enforcement officers shall not be eligible to serve as
commissioners-in-charge, commissioners, alternate commissioners, or watchers.
B. Authority over law enforcement officers. A law enforcement officer at a polling place on election
day is subject only to the orders of the commissioners at that polling place.
C. Duty of law enforcement officers. A law enforcement officer at a polling place on election day
shall assist the commissioners in preserving order, enforcing the election laws, and protecting election
officials from interference with the performance of their duties. A law enforcement officer shall not enter
a polling place on election day except to vote or to enforce the orders of the commissioners, and a law
enforcement officer shall not interfere with the conduct of the election, the voters, or the election officials.
D. The office of the district attorney in each parish in which an election where a candidate appears
on the ballot is being conducted may remain open during the hours that polling places are required to be open
for voting. However, the office of the district attorney in each parish in which a special bond or tax election
is being held shall not remain open during the hours that polling places are required to be open for voting,
unless requested by the governing authority.
House of Representatives Database
Louisiana Election Code – 93
R.S. 18:431
E. Notwithstanding any provision of this Section to the contrary, law enforcement officers may be
stationed at polling places if in the regular course and scope of their duties such law enforcement officers
provide security for the public building in which the polling place is located and for the personnel working
in such building. Law enforcement officers stationed at a polling place pursuant to the provisions of this
Subsection shall not interfere with the conduct of the election, the voters, or the election officials.
F. Notwithstanding any provision of this Section to the contrary, law enforcement officers may enter
the polling place when there is a reasonable belief there is an emergency and the commissioners are unable
to summon the law enforcement officers.
G. Law enforcement officers. For purposes of this Code, the term "law enforcement officer" shall
mean any employee of the state, a municipality, a sheriff, or other public agency, whose permanent duties
actually include the making of arrests, the performing of searches and seizures, or the execution of criminal
warrants, and who is responsible for the prevention or detection of crime or for the enforcement of the penal,
traffic, or highway laws of this state.