LWV of Mississippi Gulf Coast

The League of Women Voters of the United States and the League of Women Voters of Mississippi, along with the Mississippi Center for Justice, One Voice, Mississippi Votes, the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP, Black Voters Matter, the Mississippi Poor People’s Campaign, the Reaching and Educating for Community Hope (RECH) Foundation, Strong Arms of Mississippi, the Mississippi Prison Reform Coalition, the People’s Advocacy Institute (PAI), and the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) released the following statement after the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Hopkins v. Watson overturned its earlier decision that declared Mississippi’s lifetime felony voting ban was unconstitutional.

JACKSON, Miss. — Voting rights advocates celebrate a significant victory as the Mississippi Legislature rolled back an unlawful restriction placed on voters.

This legislative change, which takes effect July 1, follows a successful lawsuit led by Disability Rights Mississippi, the League of Women Voters of Mississippi, and three individual Mississippi voters.

Young voters are becoming a force in American politics, and as a result, anti-voter state legislatures are going to great lengths to add hurdles for young voters.

In spite of these barriers, young voters are energetic, organized, and ready to make their voices heard.

Voting is a fundamental right. Yet voters with disabilities face persistent barriers to casting a ballot.

Fortunately, these barriers can be challenged under Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA), which requires that states allow people with disabilities to receive assistance in the voting process. 

This story was originally published by USA Today

States across the South are passing new restrictions on how votes are cast. Civil rights activists say it will reduce turnout among Black voters.

GULFPORT, Miss. — Voting and disability rights advocates are asking to intervene in a lawsuit filed by the Mississippi Republican Party and Republican National Committee that seeks to overturn a Mississippi law that allows for people voting absentee to mail ballots up until Election Day, and to have those ballots counted if they’re postmarked by Election Day and received within five business days after.