New Voting Hours and Restrictions on Sex Offenders to Start in January

Nearly two dozen new laws take effect with the start of January.

Most noticeable may be the shortening of Louisiana's voting hours on Saturday election days, pushed as a way to reduce the workload for elderly poll workers. Polls will open at 7 a.m. on Saturday elections, instead of 6 a.m.

Under another new law, boards that govern local public libraries will be required to limit library access for people convicted of sex offenses against children under 13 years old. Those offenders will be barred from library property during times when children frequent the site.

However, it's unclear how librarians will be able to enforce the new regulations since they will have no way of knowing who has been convicted of a sex crime against a child under 13.