Disability Rights Mississippi, et al. v. Lynn Fitch, et al.

After Mississippi enacted a law that violates the right of residents with disabilities to receive voting assistance from the person of their choice, the Southern Poverty Law Center and its partners challenged the law in federal court.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Disability Rights Mississippi, the League of Women Voters of Mississippi and three voters in the state, describes how the law, also known as SB 2358, applies harsh criminal penalties to Mississippians who help members of their communities vote by absentee ballot. The law, signed by Gov. Tate Reeves in 2023, only allows election officials, postal workers, family members or caregivers to assist a voter with submitting an absentee ballot. Friends, neighbors and volunteers for voter services groups are barred by the law from providing such assistance. What’s more, the failure of the law to define the term caregiver threatens to chill voter assistance from staff of health care institutions.

The complaint describes how the law violates Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act, which recognizes the right of voters with disabilities to receive voting assistance from the person of their choice. It was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Northern Division.