DeSoto County Election Commission Allowing Observers From Afar

A DeSoto County election official confirmed that the press and the public can watch, but not listen, to the canvassing process to determine which unopened affidavit ballots to accept and which to reject. Laura Edler, DeSoto County District 1 election commissioner, told the Mississippi Free Press today that, following what she described as the direct advisement of Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson, the DeSoto County Election Commission would only allow observers to sit in an adjoining room to watch the process to allow the commissioners to discuss which unopened ballots were appropriately cast in DeSoto County. Watson’s office did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

This follows an ACLU letter alleging that DeSoto County is failing to properly follow Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-581, which states in part that “during the holding of the election and the counting of the ballots, the whole proceedings shall be in fair and full view of the voting public.” Next week, when ballots are to be reviewed and counted, Edler confirmed that both the press and the public would be allowed into the room with election officials to fully hear and see the process.

Edler stated that relevant guidance on elections specifically only provided for the public to share the room with the election process during voting and final counting. The Mississippi Free Press asked directly if the quorum of election commission officials meeting in their official capacity to discuss and decide ballot eligibility did not require the full access of the public under the state’s Open Meetings Act, as discussed in Gannett River States Publishing Co. v. City of Jackson (2004) and Hinds County Board of Supervisors v. Common Cause (1989). Edler acknowledged the Mississippi Supreme Court decisions but would “have to default to the (Secretary of State) on this as we are following his directive.”

DeSoto County continues to process its roughly 2,100 affidavit ballots, with Edler telling the Mississippi Free Press today that the commission should be ready to review and count accepted ballots by next Wednesday or Thursday. Edler did not provide an overall rejection rate, but stated that “more than half” of the examined affidavit ballots that she has personally reviewed involved previously inactive voters who have been reactivated and whose ballots would count in the final tally.