Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Study: MS no early voting for all

The Democracy Initiative, a network of 75 civil rights, environmental, labor, and civic organizations, according to its website, has produced a study that points out that 49 states, with the exception of Mississippi, give all citizens the opportunity to vote early in-person or by mail this year. Mississippi is one of just five states that disallows no-excuse voting by mail, but in four bordering states, all voters can vote early during the pandemic. “Even today, in 2020, we continue to fight against old and outdated policies and practices aimed to suppress the vote” at the ballot box, said Corey Wiggins, executive director of the Mississippi State Conference of NAACP. Before the pandemic, Mississippi had some of the most restrictive early voting laws in the USA. Only people who are going to be away from their home area on Election Day, over the age 65, and people with disabilities are allowed to vote early either in person or by mail. The four states contiguous to Mississippi allow no-excuse, in-person early voting during this pandemic year. Arkansas is the only one of the four neighboring states to allow both no-excuse early voting in person and by mail, according to the study. (Source: Mississippi Today 10/13/20) https://www.djournal.com/mississippi-today/practices-aimed-to-suppress-the-vote-mississippi-is-the-only-state-without-early-voting-for/article_52f8084f-a245-5335-ba7b-7468f183e4df.html

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