Louisiana marriage-ban vote to proceed despite Ivan

Elections scheduled for Saturday in Louisiana, including a statewide vote on a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same marriage, are still scheduled, despite the threat posed by Hurricane Ivan, Secretary of State Fox McKeithen said Tuesday. The elections will go on, barring a "catastrophic turn" by the storm, McKeithen said. Ivan was expected to hit slightly to the east of Louisiana, although land fall in Louisiana remained a possibility. Voters who find their polling places to be located in flooded areas may be directed to vote elsewhere--in particular, those who normally vote in the vulnerable Grand Isle precinct. Otherwise, "assuming the present course, this should not really affect us at all," McKeithen said. Voting machines in 16 southern parishes prepared a day earlier than usual, as a precaution against courthouses that will be closed Wednesday, the secretary of state said. The parishes include Orleans, Jefferson, and those along the Mississippi River. Preparations have been made to haul voting machines to dry ground if the courthouses appear threatened, McKeithen said.