VIDALIA — Early voting — also known as “no excuse” voting — for the upcoming U.S. Congressional election will get under way today at the office of the Concordia Parish registrar of voters.

Polls will open at 8:30 a.m., and will close at 6 p.m. Though they will close Sunday, the polls will re-open Monday through Saturday during the same hours.

The registrar’s office received word Friday that the U.S. Justice Department had cleared a recent change in voting legislation that allowed them to extend early voting hours from the 4:30 p.m. closing time to 6 p.m., Registrar Golda Ensminger said.

The only thing on the ballot is the Republican closed primary for the Fifth Congressional District. Running in the election are incumbent Rep. Rodney Alexander and challenger Andrew Clack.

Because this election is a closed primary, only Republicans will be allowed to vote. Though voters will have to present the standard identification required at the polls, they will not have to prove their Republican status.

“We will have their party affiliation listed in the poll list,” Ensminger said.

This is the first election cycle in which closed primaries are being used in Louisiana, Ensminger said.

“We have always had open primaries, and a lot of people crossed party lines to vote in an election, but hopefully there won’t be too much confusion,” she said.

No independent candidates or members of the four other parties recognized in the state have entered the race, so the winner of the election will be the fifth district congressman.

You do not have to have a reason to vote early. To vote in person, take a generally recognized state-issued ID such as a driver’s license to the registrar of voter’s office.

The final election for this primary will be Sept. 6.