Free election day bus service in Lafayette draws criticism

A plan to offer free bus service in the city of Lafayette for the Nov. 6 and Dec. 8 election dates is drawing criticism from some who claim it violates state law.

On the Lafayette City-Parish Council meeting agenda Tuesday is a resolution to waive all bus fees in the city on the two election days "in an effort to increase voter participation."

Participation in local elections has been dismal in recent years. Parish wide turnout for the presidential election in November 2016 was 68 percent. But for a highly publicized and controversial April 2017 election that included a new proposed school facilities tax, turnout was 17 percent. Turnout for an April 2018 library tax renewal was eight percent in the parish and 9.7 percent in the city of Lafayette.

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Lafayette Citizens Against Taxes, a Facebook group administered by Michael Lunsford, and followers have criticized the proposal because city buses don't run in heavily conservative non-city areas.

Lunsford, executive director of conservative advocacy group Citizens for a New Louisiana, said in one Facebook post the Louisiana Secretary of State's office calls the bus service "electioneering" and "illegal."

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