BATON ROUGE, La. (5/14/2026) — Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry announced Thursday that races for U.S. Representative previously scheduled for the Saturday, May 16 election and June 27 runoff have officially been cancelled.
Louisiana U.S. House races moved to fall election under Act 7 of the 2026 Regular Session, which Governor Jeff Landry signed into law Thursday.
The legislation moves the congressional races to Louisiana’s traditional fall open primary election cycle. The new primary election date is Nov. 3, 2026. A general election, if needed, will take place Dec. 12, 2026.
Secretary Landry said all other races and propositions scheduled for the May 16 election will continue as planned. Those races include the U.S. Senate race and five Constitutional amendments.
“All voters in Louisiana are encouraged to vote on Saturday, as all voters will have something on their ballot,” Landry said in a statement.
State officials said any votes cast in the cancelled U.S. House races will not count. Some voters may still see congressional races listed on their ballots, but election officials cannot release or disclose results from those contests.
The legislation also creates a new qualifying period for candidates running in the fall election cycle. Candidates for U.S. House races must qualify between Aug. 5 and Aug. 7, 2026.
In addition, the Secretary of State’s Office will refund the state portion of qualifying fees paid by congressional candidates for the cancelled elections. Previously submitted nominating petitions for those races have also been voided.
The new law lowers the number of required petition signatures for U.S. House candidates. Candidates using the petition method must now gather signatures from 250 qualified voters statewide and submit petitions by July 9, 2026.
Potential candidates can still qualify either by paying the required qualifying fee or by submitting a nominating petition.
Voters can find updated election information, registration details, sample ballots, and election dates by visiting GeauxVote.com or using the GeauxVote mobile app.
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