A federal judge blocked a new Mississippi law that would set criminal penalties for some people who help others with absentee voting — a ruling that comes as absentee ballots are already available in party primaries for governor and other state offices.
U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate wrote in his order Tuesday that Mississippi cannot enforce the law during this year’s primaries or general election.
The state law - which was supposed to take effect July 1 — would set a short list of people who can “collect and transmit” an absentee ballot. The list includes employees of the U.S. Postal Service or other mail carriers, plus any “family member, household member or caregiver” of the person receiving an absentee ballot.
Wingate wrote that under questioning in court, state defendants “were unable to provide any data illustrating whether Mississippi has a widespread ballot harvesting problem.”“All eligible voters in Mississippi should be able to exercise their right to vote without unnecessary - and as the court found improper - impediments by the state government,” Joshua Tom, legal director at the ACLU of Mississippi, said in a statement Wednesday.
“Mr. Whitley wishes to continue to have them assist him but he does not want to put them at risk of facing criminal penalties,” the lawsuit said.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
President Biden to establish Emmett Till National Monument at sites in Chicago, MississippiPresident Joe Biden will establish a national monument honoring Chicagoan and civil rights icon Emmett Till and his mother Tuesday on what would have been his 82nd birthday.
Read more »
Biden to establish national monument honoring Emmett Till, the Black teen lynched in MississippiPresident Joe Biden will establish a national monument honoring Emmett Till, the Black teenager who was abducted, tortured and killed in 1955 after he was accused of whistling at a white woman in Mississippi, and his mother, a White House official said.
Read more »
National monument honoring Emmett Till to consist of 3 sites in Illinois and MississippiPresident Biden is expected to sign a proclamation Tuesday designating locations associated with Emmett Till as a national monument on what would have been his 82nd birthday, recognizing the impact of his killing on the civil rights movement.
Read more »
President Biden to establish Emmett Till National Monument at sites in Illinois, MississippiPresident Joe Biden will establish a national monument honoring civil rights icon Emmett Till and his mother Tuesday on what would have been his 82nd birthday.
Read more »