Senate Bill 80, a measure to define "exit polling" and to limit exit polling inside the 600‑foot electioneering zone to bona fide news organizations, was reported favorably by the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs on April 23, 2025.

Nancy Landry, Louisiana’s Secretary of State, presented the bill and said it clarifies that exit polling within the 600‑foot no‑electioneering zone must be conducted by bona fide news‑gathering organizations, must concern the issues on the current ballot or demographic information and must be non‑disruptive. "This bill clarifies that only bona fide news media organizations can conduct exit polling within the 600 foot zone and also states that the exit polling must be about the issues on the current ballot," Landry told the committee.

Landry said the proposal responds to a recent incident in which an organization set up what officials described as a demonstration outside a polling place and used the guise of an exit poll to ask questions unrelated to ballot matters and to recruit members; officials removed the group from the immediate polling area but chose to address the issue legislatively rather than by arrest. The bill includes an amendment (Amendment 7‑83) providing a statutory definition of "bona fide news‑gathering organization," adopting language consistent with the public records law.

Opposition testimony came from Bert Cali of We the People Northwest and Citizens and Our Constitution, who argued the bill would restrict free speech and freedom of association. Cali read court rulings in support of his position and said the group he represented had used a written form to register an exit poll and that participation was voluntary; the transcript records his contention that 209 voters were contacted at three precincts and 174 participated in a survey about paper ballots.

Sherry Wharton Hatzke, the commissioner of elections, told the committee that historically exit polls are more common in federal elections and that organizations such as Edison Media Research have registered to conduct exit polls in previous cycles. Committee members asked whether independent creators or citizen journalists could qualify under the proposed definition; Landry and Hatzke said the statutory definition is intended to capture organizations that are actively engaged in news gathering, and registration with the secretary of state's office is part of the process.

Senators voiced concern about preserving First Amendment protections while keeping polling places free of disruptive demonstrations. The committee adopted the sponsor’s amendment to tighten the definition and then reported the bill favorably on a motion by Senator Carter; the transcript records the measure as reported favorably with no objection.