By Kimberly Hopson
L’Observateur

LAPLACE – The early voting period for two important October elections in St. John the Baptist and St. James parishes begins today.
St. John Parish Sheriff Mike Tregre will begin a second attempt at his proposed quarter-cent sales tax increase. Nearly 60 percent of voters gave the thumbs down to the tax hike in April, but Tregre attributes the initial failure to being in the wrong place at the wrong time — Gov. Bobby Jindal had just begun peddling his now-scrapped 6.25 percent sales tax increase. The proposed tax jump would cost residents less than $40 a year, according to financial officers at the department. Tregre said the funding would be used to hire more officers, draw new talent and replace equipment lost during Hurricane Isaac.
Trinette M. Jasmin and Sylvia “Sue” Williams, both of Vacherie, are listed as candidates for St. James Parish’s Sixth District Justice of the Peace election. Thirty-one-year-old Jasmin, an assistant manager for a local loan company, said her education and experience with notary work are valuable traits. Jasmin said she previously ran for the District 6 position of the St. James School Board.
“I know the community very well, and I’m used to doing a lot of paperwork. I think being the age I am, I can communicate with the young as well as the old. I have a good relationship with the community,” said Jasmin.
Williams, 64, is a retired education paraprofessional and a minister at Greater Deliverance Second Baptist Full Gospel Church in Vacherie. Willams feels that she is an asset to the community. She said she and her late husband, Lawrence Jr., were active supporters of local political campaigns in the past.
“I am a people person. I get along with everybody, and God just laid it on my heart to do it,” she said. “I see the need of the people. Not only could I help out certain people, I could help the whole community. I met a lot of people, and I’ve helped a lot of children. Even to this day, those children still call me Ms. Wiliams.”
The early voting period for the Oct. 19 municipal primary elections begins Saturday, Oct. 5, and run through Saturday, Oct. 12.
Ballots will be accepted from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m daily, excluding Sunday, Oct. 6.
Citizens who wish to vote early may do so in person at their parish Registrar of Voters’ Office or at other designated locations. For a complete listing of early voting locations, visit www.sos.la.gov/ElectionsAndVoting/Pages/EarlyVotingLocations.aspx.
Voters can also utilize the Secretary of State’s smartphone app, GeauxVote Mobile, as well as www.geauxvote.com, to find out where to vote, what’s on their ballot and their voting districts. For more information about the elections or candidates, visit www.sos.la.gov.