Mississippi's new restrictions on absentee ballots could disenfranchise voters who have disabilities by preventing them from receiving help from people they trust, according to a lawsuit that seeks to block the restrictions.
“Every voter in the state of Mississippi has the right to participate in their democracy,” ACLU staff attorney Ming Cheung said in a statement. “Voting in Mississippi is extraordinarily difficult, and many voters experiencing disabilities and other challenges must rely on their friends and community members for assistance with absentee voting.”
Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said when he signed the new law that it will ban political operatives from collecting and handling large numbers of ballots. Reeves described the practice as “ballot harvesting,” a pejorative term for dropping off completed ballots for other people. “Voting — and receiving assistance with voting due to disability, blindness, or illiteracy — is a highly personal act,” the lawsuit said. “And under federal law, voters cannot be denied their right to entrust a ballot to a person of their choice.”
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