Mississippi is revising restrictions it set last year on absentee voting assistance for voters with disabilities or those who are illiterate.
by
Emily Wagster Pettus Associated Press
July 2, 2024 4:36 PM ET
• 3 min read
JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi is reviewing restrictions it put in place last year on who can provide absentee voting assistance to people with disabilities or those who are illiterate that were blocked by a federal judge but ultimately changed by lawmakers.
On Monday, the Republican-controlled state Legislature passed a revised state law that changes a law signed into law by Republican Gov. Tate Reeves in 2023.
“This legal change marks a landmark step forward for voting rights in Mississippi and ensures that every citizen’s voice is heard and respected,” Greta Kemp Martin, litigation director for Disability Rights Mississippi, said in a statement Monday.
Disability Rights Mississippi, the League of Women Voters of Mississippi, and three voters sued the state in 2023, challenging the short list of people who can “collect and transmit” absentee ballots. The list included U.S. Postal Service employees, other mail carriers such as FedEx and UPS, and “family members, household members, or caregivers of the person who received the ballot in the mail.” Violations could be punished by up to one year in prison, a $3,000 fine, or both.
U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate blocked the law last year, saying it violated the federal Voting Rights Act, which allows blind, disabled and illiterate voters to get assistance from “persons selected by the voters” other than their employers or unions.
Mississippi’s new law mirrors that section of the Voting Rights Act. It also defines who is considered a caregiver, family member or household member of a voter. Democrats who opposed the 2023 law said it was vague and could negatively affect candidates, canvassers, nursing home employees or others who act in good faith to help people obtain and mail absentee ballots.
Republican-led states have tightened rules on voting by mail since the 2020 election, in part because of a false belief that that election was riddled with fraud. When Gov. Reeves signed Mississippi’s law in 2023, he said it was to prevent “ballot harvesting,” a pejorative term for the practice of delivering completed ballots for others.
One of the residents who sued the state, Mamie Cunningham, is the head of a local group and is involved with Black Voters Matter in Northeast Mississippi.
“Many rural people with disabilities would not vote without assistance,” Cunningham said in a statement Monday. “In Mississippi, voting absentee is a daunting process even for people without disabilities.”
While some states allow widespread voting by mail, Mississippi limits the reasons for absentee voting. Absentee voting is available by mail or early voting to Mississippi voters age 65 and older, voters with a temporary or permanent disability or who are the caregivers of such individuals, and voters who will be away from home on Election Day, such as college students.