LWV of East Central Mississippi

From Supreme Court decisions to voting rights legislation, 2023 was a busy year for our democracy. But how closely were you paying attention? 

JACKSON, Miss. — The League of Women Voters of the US, the League of Women Voters of Mississippi, the Mississippi Center for Justice, One Voice, Mississippi Votes, Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP, Black Voters Matter, Mississippi Poor People’s Campaign, Reaching and Educating for Community Hope (RECH) Foundation, Strong Arms of Mississippi, Mississippi Prison Reform Coalition, People’s Advocacy Institute, and the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, filed an amicus brief late Wednesday in Hopkins v. Watson, urging the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to declare Mississippi’s lifetime felony disenfranchisement law — Section 241 — cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution. The groups are represented by pro bono attorneys Matthew Sloan, Lauren Aguiar, Shaud Tavakoli, Daniel Bleiberg, Andrew Karp, and Kathleen Shelton. 

This story was originally published in Mississippi Today.

A coalition of civic and legal organizations on Thursday called for the Hinds County Election Commission to provide clear answers to voters on why numerous voting precincts in the state’s most populous county ran out of ballots during the Nov. 7 election. 

The group, which includes organizations like Mississippi Votes and the League of Women Voters, told the media that some of the consortium’s representatives have attempted to schedule a meeting with the election commissioners, but the county rejected that request. 

This story was originally published in Associated Press.

Voting rights activists plan to meet next week to discuss legal recourse around restoring fair access to ballots, said Debbie Pantenburg, spokesperson for the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Mississippi.

“Our membership is outraged that the lack of ballots happened in a historically underrepresented region of our state,” Pantenburg said.

She said the league wants Watson to investigate and publish a report detailing how the problems happened.

This story was originally published by The Meridian Star.

September is national Voter Registration Month, and the east central Mississippi chapter of the League of Women Voters is working to help residents register to vote in the upcoming general election. The nonpartisan organization is set to hold several events over the next month to provide residents with information about where to vote, Mississippi’s voter ID laws and what rights they have as voters.

JACKSON, Miss. — A federal court has granted a request by Disability Rights Mississippi, the League of Women Voters of Mississippi, and three Mississippi voters to block S.B. 2358 — a newly implemented state law that significantly diminishes access to the ballot for Mississippians who need assistance with voting.