Maintaining trust and open communication with voters and candidates matters even more when laws fluctuate and margins narrow. As Election Day approaches around the country, Amanda Raynes, Registrar of Voters in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, spoke to us about best practices she used while navigating her May 2026 primary. 

What makes a community trust its elections and the people who run them?

Amanda Raynes, Registrar of Voters of DeSoto Parish, Louisiana has a built-in advantage (she grew up in the parish and has known most of its residents her entire life). But in the spring of 2026, Raynes didn’t take those relationships for granted when it came to communicating about  last-minute primary election changes or to handling razor-thin margins — one of which required a recount.

Informing Voters: A Last-Minute Primary Election Change 

The May 2026 primary marked a change from Louisiana’s traditional all-party “jungle” primaries to closed primaries for five key races. However, one week before early voting began, the Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais decision found Louisiana’s Congressional map unconstitutional. It was now impossible, on the original timeline, to redistrict and execute the closed House primary under a new map or to remove the House race from the ballot altogether. “That was the first craziness of the May primary,” recalled Raynes. 

Having already prepared DeSoto Parish’s voters for the new primary format, Raynes now had to guide them through complicated updates. Setting the record straight was not easy, but guidance provided by the Louisiana Secretary of State’s office proved helpful when fielding the many direct inquiries from parish voters.

“So, you get a lot of people coming in and a lot of phone calls, people thinking the entire election is cancelled,” recalled Raynes, who was also responding to misleading information describing the election as null and void. “We made it very clear that everything was still on the ballot, including the House race for the seat on the map that had been ruled unconstitutional.” The four other closed primaries would continue as normal. But the primary election for the House, while still appearing on the primary ballot, was suspended and all candidates, regardless of party, would appear on the ballot in November per Louisiana’s previous jungle primary format.

Raynes also got the word out on social media and benefited from her working relationship with local TV news outlets, where she already scheduled weekly spots to inform voters about mail ballots and other election updates. “I don’t like reactive stuff; I like to inform the public ahead of time when I can,” she said. Her existing relationship provided another avenue for updating voters about the May primary election changes.

In the run up to the election, Raynes and her staff framed the anticipated changes carefully. “I harp so much on the importance of the words you say to your voters,” she reflected. “I will get so riled up if I hear my team say, Oh, you can’t vote on that. To the extent possible, don’t tell people they can’t vote. Change the perspective from ‘No, you can’t do this,’ to ‘This is what you can do and what will happen next.’ Regarding the House race, we told people, ‘‘You can vote on that race, but as far as we are aware, the results will not be released or counted, and any results will be redacted.’” 

Working with Candidates: Close Margins  

Once ballots were in, Raynes next had to address two close mayoral races. In most states, including Louisiana, a candidate must secure 50% of all votes plus one vote to win a race outright. In Stonewall, in the north of the parish, the mayoral race ended in a perfect tie between two candidates (374 to 374). In Mansfield, where Raynes’s office is located, the mayoral results were three-way — 692, 599, and 92 — with the winner avoiding a runoff by one vote. 

In Louisiana, any candidate can request (and will then be billed for) a recount of paper ballots, no matter the margin. In the Stonewall race, the two candidates elected to go to runoff without a recount. In the Mansfield race, the second-place candidate came to Raynes, explaining that while they didn’t doubt Raynes’ team or the office’s procedures, the result being decided by such a small margin made them feel they needed the confirmation of a recount.

Raynes credits the positive environment surrounding recounts to her long history in the community, her office’s dedication to transparency, and her careful work building cross-party connections. A registered no-party voter, she maintains an open door to all residents, voters, and candidates and does her best to address all inquiries personally: “My main thing is, if I do it for one, I do it for all.”

Between state-mandated machine testing, a bipartisan five-person Board that observes and certifies all Election Night counting and results, and office-specific procedures like strict reconciliation of voter sign-ins with numbers of votes cast, Raynes felt confident that the recount would support the original result. “This is the part where you can earn people’s respect through years of being consistent and doing your job. We follow the law,” she said. “We work so hard at ensuring things are consistent and accurate and checked and double checked.” 

Raynes invited all candidates and community members to observe Mansfield’s recount in person. “They witness us cutting the seals, and they can view all scanning audit reports that show the results, as well as all scanned paper ballots from the entire election,” she noted. Anyone who comes in to observe Election Night or recount procedures must abide by the same rules as Raynes and her Board: all personal devices are collected and everyone is sequestered until results are final and submitted. “You’re here until we’re done, just like we are,” she added.

In Mansfield’s recount, the results were verified independently by two counters, and totals for each candidate were compared to the original sums across paper and machine. The numbers matched, making a runoff unnecessary. 

“[The candidate requesting a recount] was so impressed with how we did things and specifically with how closely the law was followed,” Raynes recalled. “Those of us that run elections have such a passion for doing it right. But the public doesn’t always know that, because they’re on the outside looking in. The answer is always to be transparent and honest. Whenever someone asks a hard question, I have a policy that I do not take it personally. Remember that they are not questioning you — they’re simply asking for clarity on what the processes are and to know that we’re doing this with the most integrity that we can.”

This weekend, we’re sending appreciation to every single person ensuring excellent elections in their communities on Tuesday (and, if your state holds runoffs, beyond Tuesday). Tabulation Audits, Voter Communication, and Secure Ballot Management are all included in the Standards for Election Excellence, co-developed by nearly 300 election officials with the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence. Learn more about the Standards available for certification and apply for certification today — certification is now open to election departments across the country.