Political observers say you can count on a runoff in the US Senate race after today. Jeff Palermo reports…

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Polls will remain open until 8PM. Secretary of State Tom Schedler still predicts voter turnout for today’s election to be in the neighborhood of 53-percent…

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He says if you can hit the polls sometime in the mid-morning or mid-afternoon you may have a little shorter wait time to cast your ballot.

There’s a large field of candidates vying for the 5th District Congressional seat. ULM Political Science Professor Joshua Stockley says since Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo is the only Democrat in the race, he has the best chance to make the runoff. But who will face him is tough to say. He says Zach Dasher, a pharmaceutical salesman from Calhoun has a lot of momentum heading into election day…

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He says Republican incumbent Vance McAllister is in a fight to make the runoff.

The state Department of Education says 44-percent of voucher students reached a “basic” achievement level on standardized tests last year. That’s up from 42-percent the year before. Overall, Ann Duplessis, President of the Louisiana Federation for Children, says they are thrilled with the numbers because it shows there is a good accountability program in place that is working…

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The DOE also says 23 of the 125 participating voucher schools did not perform well enough to accept new voucher students next year.