The Louisiana Legislature has approved a temporary change to the state’s U.S. House election process for 2026, restoring the election system used between 1998 and 2024. On May 13, lawmakers amended House Bill 842, an omnibus election measure, to allow all congressional candidates to qualify for the November ballot simply by paying a filing fee, with no petition requirement. Under the reinstated system, if a candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in November, they win outright; otherwise, the top two candidates advance to a December runoff election.

The legislation reverses what would otherwise have been a closed primary system for 2026 congressional races. Without the amendment, only Democratic and Republican candidates would have been permitted on the November ballot automatically, while independent and third-party candidates would have needed petitions to qualify. Ballot Access News reported the temporary change was necessary because Louisiana is currently redrawing its congressional districts, leaving insufficient time to conduct both partisan primaries and runoff primaries before the general election calendar.

The revised election schedule follows major legal developments surrounding Louisiana’s congressional maps. U.S. House elections had originally been scheduled with partisan primaries on May 16, 2026, and runoff primaries on June 27, 2026. However, those elections were canceled after the Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais determined that the state’s congressional district map constituted an unconstitutional gerrymander. The original filing deadline of February 13, 2026, was also voided as a result of the court’s decision and the subsequent redistricting process.

Louisiana’s U.S. House elections will take place on November 3, 2026, with a general runoff election scheduled for December 12, 2026. Candidates seeking to run for one of the state’s six congressional seats must file between August 5 and August 7, 2026, with the filing deadline falling on August 7. House Bill 842 also includes unrelated election law provisions, including a new requirement that voters signing petitions in future elections must provide their year of birth as part of the signature verification process.