Three civil-rights groups are accusing Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson of violating Mississippi’s election code with his Dec. 4 cutoff for voters to cure affidavit ballots and circuit clerks to receive absentee ballots for the Nov. 26 judicial runoff elections.
All state, county and city offices in Mississippi were closed on Thursday, Nov. 28, and Friday, Nov. 29, for the Thanksgiving holiday per Gov. Tate Reeves’ proclamation, meaning Dec. 4 was four business days after the Nov. 26 runoff. Mississippi law says that the absentee and affidavit ballot deadline is five business days after the election and that a state holiday is not a business day. Thus, the deadline should have been Dec. 5, civil-rights groups say.
The Legal Defense Fund, Disability Rights Mississippi and the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP said in the letter that Watson’s decision “undermines the right of voters to access the ballot box in a free and fair manner” because he changed the date without notifying voters and counted Friday, Nov. 29, as a business day.
Election officials still have not determined the final result of the Mississippi Supreme Court District 1 runoff, in which Republican Mississippi Sen. Jenifer Branning leads incumbent moderate Justice Jim Kitchens by 1,449 votes with 99% of ballots counted.
“Your decision shortens the time voters have to ensure their votes are counted with no notice to voters about this last-minute change—an especially egregious action given the timing around Thanksgiving, a period when many individuals are traveling or otherwise unable to access their Circuit Clerk’s office,” the groups’ members wrote on Dec. 4.
Watson responded to the letter in an email writing only, “agree to disagree” and signed off with his initials. Attorney Amir Badat, manager of Black Votes On the Rise and Voting Special Counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, expressed discontent with the secretary’s three-word reply.
“(I’m) disappointed in him treating this in such a flippant way. This is a really important issue. The timing of this deadline determines whether or not people can vote,” he told the Mississippi Free Press on Dec. 5.
The secretary of state’s Nov. 22 press release gave voters a Dec. 4 deadline to bring an accepted form of photo identification for those who had to vote by affidavit ballot in the runoff election because they did not bring a photo ID to the polls. It said that Dec. 4 was also the last day for county circuit clerks to accept mail-in absentee ballots as long as the ballots were postmarked on or before the runoff election date on Nov. 26.
“All mail-in absentee ballots must be postmarked by November 26 and received by Circuit Clerk’s Offices by 5:00 p.m. on December 4 in order to count,” the press release said.
However, the office’s 2024 elections calendar, which the secretary of state’s office released in January, said the deadline for the affidavit curing and absentee ballot acceptance was Dec. 5.
“This calendar is provided for planning purposes only. Dates are subject to change or revision,” the calendar says.
Badat said that during the week of Dec. 2, the secretary of state’s office informed circuit clerks that the deadline would be on Dec. 4 instead of Dec. 5. But Watson did not make the announcement to the public.
“It just makes sense to let voters know when you’re shortening a deadline, particularly in a race that’s as close as this one. And the fact that he didn’t feel the need to do that is really troubling,” Badat said.
In an email to Leah Rise, legal counsel for Black Votes on the Rise, Rankin County District 2 Election Commissioner Andrew Sorrentino said the secretary of state had made a “correction” to the deadline.
“Due to a correction made by the Secretary of State’s (office) regarding their calendar – specifically the last day for the Circuit Clerk to receive the absentee ballots, and for individuals who voted by way of affidavit because they did not have a form of ID when they were at their respective precinct – we are intending to scan the ballots today at 5:00 p.m., or as close to that time as possible,” the commissioner wrote in a Dec. 4 email to Rise.
Badat said he did not know how many ballots the shortened deadline could affect but that his team was working on collecting data.
The Mississippi Free Press asked for Watson’s response to several questions, but the secretary of state did not respond.