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Attorneys with the Mississippi Center for Justice appeared in Hinds County Chancery Court, to ask for clarification on a stipulation to vote by absentee ballot. The legislature temporarily added that those quarantined by a doctor due to COVID 19 can vote absentee. Attorney Robert McDuff with the justice center argues people with pre-existing conditions and concerned about contracting the virus should be able to do so. But he says there's opposition to that.
"The state health officer quite appropriately is telling people with pre-existing conditions to stay at home as much as possible and telling everybody to avoid community events. Yet, the secretary of state is taking the position that people need to go to the polls," said McDuff.
Also last week, the Mississippi League of Women Voters filed a federal lawsuit with a similar argument. But the case goes further, by asking the court to waive requiring absentee applications and ballots be notarized. Christy Wheeler with the league says the process is cumbersome.
"You have to have both the application and the ballot envelope both notarized. And oh and by the way they send you two envelopes. One to send back the application and one to send back the ballot. If you try to put them both in one envelope, your ballot will be rejected," said Wheeler.
Wheeler says their lawsuit also seeks to put a procedure in place to allow voters to correct certain ballot errors. The Mississippi Secretary of State's office says it can't comment on pending litigation. Voting rights advocates are asking judges to rule on the cases right away, since the November 3rd election is about eight weeks from now.
