Red River Parish voters went along with voters statewide on some issues and bucked the trend on a couple of others.  In the town of Coushatta voter turnout was down considerably compared to the 2016 election.

On the amendments to the state Constitution, parish voters went along with the state on some of the issues, however they went against the trend on two.  See the next story for a breakdown of the vote on the amendments.

There was only one local election, that for a new Town Council.  The five incumbents were joined in the race by John Henry, Jr.  Council candidates run at large.  A drastically low voter turnout compared to 2016 may have hurt inclement Brian Nash.  He finished 6^th, edged out by 14 votes.  Challenger John D. Henry, Jr. garnered 457 votes for 5^th place.  Nash polled 443.

The turnout in town was 42.8% or 3,041 people voted.  That is just slightly more than half the number that voted in 2016.  There was a 70.7% voter turnout, or 4,454, in Coushatta in 2016 and there were 11 candidates vying for the 5 Town Council seats.

Nationally the Presidential election was extremely hotly contested between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden.  But there was not as much excitement locally this year, which translates to lower voter involvement.  In 2016 a total of 4,422 parish residents voted in the Presidential race or a turnout of 71.7%.  This time the turnout was down, at 69.5% or 4,132 people casting ballots.

Comparing this year’s race to 2016, in 2020 President Donald Trump received 2,413 votes or 58% in the parish.  Challenger Joe Biden got 1,644 votes or 40%.  Look back at 2016 and we see that President Trump got 54% or 2,391 votes and Hillary Clinton polled 1,938 or 44%.

Statewide total votes cast in 2020 is up.  Statewide turnout was 69.4% compared to 67.8% in 2016.

Red River is as red parish in a red state.  However this year with all the campaigning, the radio and tv ads, and all the radio talk shows, there was less excitement than four years ago.  And that translated in a considerably lower local voter turnout.