Messi is still on holiday after his participation in the Copa America with the Albiceleste and will not take part in the ballot. However, he and his parents will follow Saturday's vote with interest as the Catalan club heads into another new era.
The 28-year-old has had his problems with Bartomeu's board in the past. The forward fell out with Javier Faus in December 2013 after the club's financial vice-president claimed there was "no need" to improve the player's contract every year. Leo hit back publicly and hard. "Mr. Faus knows nothing about football," he said.
The Argentine was also annoyed to find out Neymar had arrived on a higher base salary than his own that summer, while he was the subject of a surprising survey for socios before Sandro Rosell's resignation. The survey asked the members how they would feel about selling the club's best-ever player.
Meanwhile, Laporta has said that Messi will be even happier than now if he returns to the club for a second mandate after leading Barca so successfully between 2003 and 2010.
Leo emerged as a young player during that time and looks back fondly on those years with a special affection for Laporta, who supported the forward and his family from the outset. In particular, the 28-year-old values the club's decision to allow him to participate in the 2008 Olympic Games (where he went on to win a gold medal with Argentina) and the beginning of the Pep Guardiola era at Camp Nou.
Guardiola left the club in 2012, after just two years under Laporta's successor Rosell, with the lack of support at boardroom level one of the main reasons for his exit.
Laporta is the only one of the current candidates who would have any chance of luring the Catalan coach back to Camp Nou and that could even happen as soon as 2016, when Guardiola's contract at Bayern Munich is set to expire.
At Barca, meanwhile, Luis Enrique has renewed his deal until 2017, but the Asturian will be expected to bring more success after leading the club to the treble in 2014-15.
Winning all three trophies after what had been a troubled start to the season has helped the cause of Bartomeu, who steered the ship through some stormy waters following Rosell's resignation. The club had been in disarray at the beginning of Luis Enrique's reign with a number of off-the-pitch problems such as the case surrounding the Neymar transfer.
After all that and particularly the happy ending to the campaign that saw Barca claim La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League, Messi will be happy to continue under Bartomeu if the 52-year-old is the winner on Saturday.
His wish, however, is for Laporta to return to power and bring back a new era like the one that kick-started the side's success in the lawyer's first mandate. And with Johan Cruyff likely to be on board should Laporta win and perhaps Guardiola back in the future as well, the return of the former president could reunite the key players behind Barca's rise to superclub status seven years ago.
So it is perhaps no wonder Messi is excited by that prospect.
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