Federal judge blocks Mississippi law restricting help for absentee voters

A federal judge Tuesday temporarily blocked a Mississippi law restricting the groups of people permitted to assist voters with casting their absentee ballots.

U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate barred Mississippi officials from applying the law in the state’s primary elections next month and general elections in November and required that the Mississippi secretary of state help with the “dissemination of information to the public” about the court’s order.

The law, which went into effect July 1, restricts people from delivering another person’s ballot unless they are an election worker, a member of the U.S. Postal Service, a common carrier, or a family member, household member or caregiver to the person.

Disability Rights Mississippi, the League of Women Voters of Mississippi and three Mississippi voters sued state officials in late May, alleging that the law violates the Voting Rights Act. Under the 1965 law, those who need assistance with voting due to physical disabilities, blindness or language barriers have a right to seek help from “any person they want.”

Wingate took particular issue with the law’s “unclear definition” of terms, such as “caregiver,” “family member” and “household member.”

“The statute’s prohibition, which requires criminal penalties, and the statute’s unclear definition of key terms promise to deter otherwise lawful assistors from providing necessary aid to a vulnerable population,” the judge wrote in Tuesday’s order.

“An estimated one in five adults, more than 850,000 people, in Mississippi suffer from a disability. In the 2000 elections, over 100,000 Mississippians voted absentee by mail,” he added. “This court is sorely concerned with the effect of this statute upon these voters, due to the statute’s broad and vague nature.”

Wingate suggested that the lack of data on ballot harvesting — the “purported aim” of the legislation — could have contributed to the lack of clarity.

“When questioned by this court, Defendants were unable to provide any data illustrating whether Mississippi has a widespread ballot harvesting problem,” he said. “Seemingly, no fact-findings or committee-finding investigations or legislative committee inquiries have focused upon this perceived threat. This may explain why the definitional approach of the statute is so barren.”

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), one of several groups working on the case, touted the ruling as a “huge win for voters in Mississippi” on Wednesday.

“We are pleased that voters with a disability or language barrier can continue receiving assistance with their ballot, the same way that they have in past elections,” Ming Cheung, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, said in a statement. 

“Rather than making voting harder, Mississippi should pass legislation to expand opportunities for voting so that all citizens can participate in their democracy,” he added.