---
type: "Bill"
title: "ELECTIONS: Provides requirements and restrictions on the ability to witness election documents"
description: "ELECTIONS: Provides requirements and restrictions on the ability to witness election documents"
jurisdiction: "us/states/la"
legislature: "Louisiana Legislature"
session: "2024"
identifier: "HB 581"
citation: "Louisiana HB 581 (2024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Polly Thomas"]
version_count: 9
action_count: 22
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2024-03-01"
last_action: "2024-06-19"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/444547ec-b1ed-4173-9cd0-16d88b1a1fbf"
source_url: "https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/BillInfo.aspx?i=246339"
source_hash: "d977822ae1a3d1898bc923970130452240af92ae104f932b49ebff4654b6ca65"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-la"]
---

# Louisiana HB 581 (2024) — ELECTIONS: Provides requirements and restrictions on the ability to witness election documents

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **HB581 Original** (filed) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1351725)
2. **HB581 Act 712** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1382734)
3. **HB581 Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1356934)
4. **House Committee Amendment, #1125, H&G, Draft** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1355374)
5. **House Committee Amendment, #1600, H&G, Adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1356828)
6. **Senate Committee Amendment, #3895, S&G, Draft** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1377250)
7. **Senate Committee Amendment, #4067, S&G, Adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1377514)
8. **Senate Legislative Bureau Amendment, #4233, BUREAU, Adopted** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1378586)
9. **HB581 Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1380704)

## Votes

- APPROPRIATIONS (#141) — **29–73** (fail) · lower
- CONCUR IN SENATE AMENDMENTS (#1662) — **71–22** (pass) · lower
- SUSPEND THE RULES (#140) — **32–67** (fail) · lower
- FINAL PASSAGE (#1310) — **27–9** (pass) · upper
- FINAL PASSAGE (#142) — **76–29** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Polly Thomas — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2024-06-19** Effective date: 07/01/2025.
- **2024-06-19** Signed by the Governor. Becomes Act No. 712. `became-law, executive-signature`
- **2024-06-04** Sent to the Governor for executive approval. `executive-receipt`
- **2024-06-02** Signed by the President of the Senate.
- **2024-05-31** Enrolled and signed by the Speaker of the House. `enrolled`
- **2024-05-30** Read by title, roll called, yeas 71, nays 22, Senate amendments concurred in.
- **2024-05-30** Scheduled for concurrence on 05/30/2024.
- **2024-05-30** Rules suspended.
- **2024-05-30** Received from the Senate with amendments. `receipt`
- **2024-05-29** Rules suspended. The amended bill was read by title, passed by a vote of 27 yeas and 9 nays, and ordered returned to the House. Motion to reconsider tabled. `passage`
- **2024-05-28** Reported with Legislative Bureau amendments which were read and adopted. Read by title and passed to third reading and final passage. `reading-3`
- **2024-05-23** Committee amendments read and adopted. Read by title and referred to the Legislative Bureau.
- **2024-05-22** Reported with amendments. `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-04-03** Read second time by title and referred to the Committee on Senate and Governmental Affairs. `reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2024-04-02** Received in the Senate. Read first time by title and placed on the Calendar for a second reading. `reading-1`
- **2024-03-27** Read third time by title, roll called on final passage, yeas 76, nays 29. Finally passed, title adopted, ordered to the Senate. `passage`
- **2024-03-25** Scheduled for floor debate on 03/27/2024.
- **2024-03-25** Read by title, amended, ordered engrossed, passed to 3rd reading. `reading-3`
- **2024-03-21** Reported with amendments (8-6). `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2024-03-11** Read by title, under the rules, referred to the Committee on House and Governmental Affairs. `referral-committee`
- **2024-03-01** Under the rules, provisionally referred to the Committee on House and Governmental Affairs. `referral-committee`
- **2024-03-01** Prefiled. `filing`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/444547ec-b1ed-4173-9cd0-16d88b1a1fbf`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Louisiana legislature records).