The number of Louisiana voters classified as inactive more than doubled during a matter of weeks last summer, according to a new analysis from the ACLU of Louisiana that also found the impact fell disproportionately on Black and Democratic voters across nearly every parish in the state.
The report, released August 4 and authored by Elijah Appelson, analyzed weekly inactive voter reports and monthly registration data published by the Louisiana Secretary of State between January 2025 and May 2026. It found that Louisiana went from 183,478 inactive voters on June 8, 2025, to 419,665 by June 29 — an increase of 236,187 voters, or 129%, in just three weeks.
The number never returned to anything close to its previous level.
Before the June spike, Louisiana averaged roughly 180,778 inactive voters. Afterward, the average jumped to nearly 443,000. Measured as a share of registered voters, the ACLU estimated Louisiana’s statewide inactivity rate rose from an average of 6.1% before the shift to 14.9% afterward.
By the report’s most recent snapshot, dated May 3, 2026, an estimated 15.6% of Louisiana’s registered voters were classified as inactive.
But those voters are not evenly distributed.
Black voters had an estimated inactivity rate of 20.7%, compared with 12.5% among White voters. Democrats were inactive at a rate of 17.8%, nearly twice the 9.4% rate among Republicans. Voters registered with another party or no party had the highest partisan-category rate at 20.4%.
The ACLU’s analysis found those disparities were not merely the result of Louisiana’s racial and partisan demographics overlapping. Black voters were more likely to be inactive than White voters within every partisan category, including among Republicans. And while Democrats generally had higher inactivity rates than Republicans, Black Republicans actually had a higher inactivity rate than Black Democrats.
White Republicans consistently had the lowest inactivity rate of any race-and-party group studied.
What “inactive” means
The Secretary of State’s office says voters can be placed on inactive status when their residential address cannot be verified through the state’s voter canvass and they do not return an address confirmation notice. An inactive voter can restore active status by updating their address online, by mail, at the Registrar of Voters office or when voting on Election Day.
But inactive status can also be the beginning of the process that ultimately removes someone from the rolls.
Under Louisiana’s process, a voter who remains inactive, does not update their information and does not vote through the required federal election period may eventually have their registration canceled.
The Secretary of State currently warns voters that an inactive registration can be canceled after the required period of continued inactivity.
So, by the legal definition, an inactive voter still has not been removed from Louisiana’s voter rolls and remains eligible to vote.
That distinction is important.
That makes the scale of last year’s increase consequential even though the hundreds of thousands of voters involved have not simply been purged.
The ACLU estimates roughly 262,220 more Louisianans are now in inactive status than before the increase, placing them one step closer to possible cancellation if they take no further action.
Why did the numbers explode in June 2025?
The report is primarily descriptive and stops short of claiming it can prove what caused the dramatic increase. But the timing points directly toward a change Louisiana lawmakers made to the state’s voter canvassing process in 2024.
The 2024 law – originally House Bill 114, introduced by Republican State Rep. Les Farnum – created an additional canvass targeting voters who had gone a decade without specified voter-related activity.
Under the law, the Department of State must identify registrants whose address was not corrected through Postal Service data and who, during the previous ten years, had not voted, applied to register, requested an absentee ballot, validly signed certain petitions, changed their registration information or participated in the state’s nursing home voting program.
The law directs the department to send those voters an address confirmation notice and transfer them to the inactive voter list. It took effect March 31, 2025, with the annual canvass required by June 30.
That timeline closely tracks the enormous June increase documented by the ACLU.
“This is not gradual drift,” the report concludes, saying the researchers believe the June jump was likely the result of Act 2.
Its analysis does not identify why Black voters or Democrats are more likely to appear on the inactive list. Differences in residential mobility, address changes, historical voting frequency or how canvassing was administered locally could all contribute, the researchers noted.
What the data does establish is the outcome.
The racial gap widened in 63 of 64 parishes
Before the June 2025 shift, Black voters statewide had an estimated inactivity rate of 8.1%, compared with 4.9% among White voters.
Afterward, the rates rose to 19.7% for Black voters and 12.1% for White voters.
The Democratic-Republican divide showed a similar pattern. Democrats went from an estimated 6.7% inactivity rate before the break to 17% afterward. Republicans increased from 3.7% to 9%.
In other words, the canvass dramatically increased inactivity across the board. It did not exclusively sweep up Democratic or Black voters.
But it also magnified disparities that were already there.
The racial gap grew in 63 of Louisiana’s 64 parishes. The Democratic-Republican gap grew in all 64.
As of May, Black voters had a higher inactivity rate than White voters in 63 of 64 parishes where both populations were present, while Democrats had a higher rate than Republicans in every parish.
That consistency is one of the report’s more significant findings. The statewide numbers cannot be easily explained away by a handful of large, heavily Democratic jurisdictions skewing the average.
The pattern repeats locally.
East Baton Rouge is above the statewide median
East Baton Rouge Parish had an overall estimated inactivity rate of 17.6%, higher than the 15.6% statewide figure and the 13.3% median among Louisiana parishes.
The parish’s Black inactivity rate was 20.9%, compared with 14 percent among White voters. Democrats were inactive at an estimated 18.9% rate, compared with 11.2 percent among Republicans.
Some parishes were considerably higher.
East Carroll led Louisiana with an estimated 33.1% of registered voters inactive. Tangipahoa followed at 30.5%, with West Carroll at 25.5%, Madison at 23.7% and Lincoln at 22.2%.
The geographic pattern is particularly pronounced in northeast Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta.
East Carroll also had some of the widest demographic disparities in the state. Its Black inactivity rate was 39.1% compared with 16.6% for White voters.
Tangipahoa’s numbers were even more striking in some categories: an estimated 44.9% of Black registered voters were inactive, compared with 24.5% of White voters. Democrats had an inactivity rate of 35.9% compared with 19.8% among Republicans.
Unlike much of the state, Tangipahoa’s growth did not occur entirely during the June 2025 canvass. The ACLU identified additional major increases there in August 2025 and March 2026, pushing the parish from roughly 14.5% inactive in early 2025 to more than 30% this spring.
A major change to Louisiana’s electorate — even if those voters can still vote
The report may not demonstrate that Louisiana has illegally removed hundreds of thousands of eligible voters, nor does it claim the racial and partisan disparities are evidence of deliberate discrimination. But its findings – while narrower – are still substantial.
Louisiana changed the administration of its voter rolls. Within months, the number of people classified as inactive more than doubled. Black voters ended up inactive at substantially higher rates than White voters. Democrats were affected at substantially higher rates than Republicans. And rather than appearing only in a handful of places, those disparities are visible nearly everywhere in the state.
The practical distinction between “inactive” and “removed” may be critical under election law. For the voter who arrives at a precinct believing their registration is current, however, being unexpectedly flagged inactive creates another hurdle that has to be resolved before casting a regular ballot.
Louisiana voters can check their status through the Secretary of State’s voter portal or inactive-voter search and update their residential address if necessary. The Secretary of State says an inactive voter who verifies their correct address can return to active status and remains eligible to vote.
But now, the larger concern is what happens if hundreds of thousands of voters never do.
Real the full report below: