Louisiana is ranked in the top 10 states for election integrity. The 45th Louisiana Secretary of State, Nancy Landry, hopes to lead the state to first place.

“I want us to be No. 1.”

Landry spoke at the Republican Women of Southwest Louisiana on Thursday to discuss legislative wins and plans for a revamped voting system.

She was elected last November, succeeding former Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin. She is an attorney by trade and worked in both private and public sectors. From 2008 to 2019, she served as a house representative for District 31. She served under Ardoin for four years as first assistant secretary of state and became certified as an election registration administrator in 2021.

She was inspired to run for office after she realized one of her two sons in the third grade was not receiving the education or resources he needed. She didn’t have any options for his education. This motivated her to become a legislator to introduce the idea of school choice.

“It was basically unheard of back then,” she said. “It took a mother’s perspective to see how the system was failing and could be improved, and that’s what’s driven me throughout my career.”

Recent legislation and goals

Landry said year after year Louisiana’s voting system tops other states.

“It’s not often that Louisiana finds itself at the top of good lists ranking states, but when it comes to elections we knock it out of the park every time.”

This is because of the state’s “Four Ps” of election security, she said: people, policies, procedures and physical security.

During the 2024 Legislative Session, 11 bills aligning with these “Ps” — the election integrity legislative package — were passed and signed by the governor.

Landry and her team had three goals in mind when drafting the bills. They aim to close loopholes in existing election integrity policies, clean voter rolls and establish uniformity in the tabluation of absentee ballots.

The 11 bills include one to reestablish the requirement of proof of citizenship when registering to vote, one to require that absentee ballot witnesses be at least 18 years old and another to set uniform absentee ballots across the state.

Local State Representative Les Farnum spearheaded Act 2, which will ensure clean voter rolls by allowing the verification of voters on rolls that have not voted or had contact with the office in at least 10 years, Landry said.

“Over 160,000 people fall into this category, so it’s really going to help us clean up our voter rolls.”

It will take more than just legislation to make sure Louisiana has good elections, she said. Landry’s single biggest priority” is the creation of a new voting system that will incorporate a paper component. The paper component will allow voters to verify the accuracy of their vote.

“These measures will take Louisiana even closer to having the best product and most secure elections in the nation with the fastest and most accurate results.”

Her office is in the process of creating state standards. Following the finalization of standards, a draft for request for proposals (RFP) for potential vendors. After several steps and waiting periods, the Joint Budget Committee will have to approve the RFP award that is recommended by the new Voting System Proposal Evaluation Committee.

“We’re trying to deliver our new system as quickly as the law allows us to.”