VIDALIA — Gubernatorial candidate Bobby Jindal made a trip to Vidalia Monday to encourage voters to vote early this year.

Louisiana voters will for the first time be allowed the opportunity to vote early without having to have an absentee excuse, Jindal said.

“I can’t tell you how many times someone came up to me and said, ‘I thought you had it so I went to the LSU game,’ or ‘I got busy, and so I didn’t vote,’” Jindal said. “Now you have an opportunity to vote at your leisure and it doesn’t come down to one day.”

Early voting begins Saturday and will run through Oct. 13.

Early ballots may be cast at the Registrar of Voter’s Office in the Concordia Parish Courthouse, Room 4, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Voters will need to provide a driver’s license, a Louisiana Special ID or some other generally recognized picture identification. A voter registration card is optional.

“We can take our state back,” Jindal said. “But the only thing that wins elections are voters, and it’s like my dad used to say: if you don’t vote, you can’t complain.”

Jindal made the stop at Nikki’s Restaurant on Carter Street and Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland made a special presentation to the candidate.

“This is (Jindal’s) seventh time to stop in this area,” he said. “No other politician has done that before.”

Copeland then presented Jindal with a plaque declaring him an honorary citizen of Vidalia.

Jindal also gave a brief campaign speech.

“We need to declare war on incompetence, corruption and out of control spending,” he said.

“The number one way to create jobs is to crack down on corruption,” he said. “Who you know shouldn’t be as important as what you know.”

Spending has gotten so out of control the state’s budget has increased from $16 billion to $32 billion in the last six years, Jindal said.

“We need elected leaders who know our dollars are precious,” he said.

“We are not a poor state. We have just had poor leadership.”