ANDREA SEABROOK, host: Stay with me here while we check in with Louisiana and NPR's Greg Allen, who's on the line from a polling station in New Orleans.</s>ANDREA SEABROOK, host: Greg, tell us about the level of voter interest in these primaries today. You've got both Republicans and Democrats voting, correct?</s>GREG ALLEN: That's right, Andrea. But you know, these are closed primaries. So if you're an independent you're not able to vote in Louisiana. And in recent years those numbers have been climbing. Something like 22 percent of the voters in the state are independent.</s>GREG ALLEN: So from the polling place I've been at today, you've got people walking in and ready to vote and being disgruntled when told they can't vote. So that's been something that's pushing down voter turnout as well.</s>ANDREA SEABROOK, host: So have you seen a lot of candidates coming through the state there, Greg?</s>GREG ALLEN: Well, we had, you know, candidates coming in - most recently on Thursday we had Barack Obama. And that's really been about it.</s>GREG ALLEN: You know, you've got to think about here it's all been about Mardi Gras for the last 12 days until - Super Tuesday elsewhere was Fat Tuesday here. And people really weren't thinking about the election until after that was over.</s>GREG ALLEN: We had Barack Obama come in with a big crowd on Thursday, and then former President Bill Clinton, of course, came in campaigning for his wife, did a five stop - five city stop here on Friday. But that's about it in terms of pre-primary campaigning. And people are just starting to realize it's a primary, and suddenly it's on them and they've got to decide whether they're going to vote or note.</s>ANDREA SEABROOK, host: Hmm. NPR's Greg Allen in New Orleans. Thanks very much, Greg.</s>GREG ALLEN: My pleasure.
In Louisiana the Republican and Democratic primaries are closed, which means independents can't vote in them. With the number of registered independents in the state climbing in recent years, that means voter turnout on Saturday was suppressed.