MS Center for Justice election appeal: 'It's not about who wins, it's about who votes'

The Mississippi Center for Justice filed a notice to appeal a decision in a case filed against Hinds County Circuit Court, the circuit court clerk and the Hinds County election commissioners after several issues were reported at some voting precincts during Tuesday's gubernatorial election.

Mississippi Votes asked the court to allow four affected precincts — Old Byram, Clinton 2, Clinton 3 and Raymond 1 — in Hinds County to remain open until 9 p.m., allowing those who were in line by 9 p.m. the opportunity to vote, no matter how long it takes.

Mississippi Votes and other voting rights advocates are working together to assure all Mississippians have equity at the polls. Hinds County, which voted for Democrat Brandon Presley at nearly an 80% rate in Tuesday's gubernatorial election, did not have the turnout many organizers had expected. Turnout was lower than four years ago.

With 97% of the vote counted, Presley finished the statewide race about 36,000 votes shy of incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves. Keeping the polls open longer may have put a dent in that deficit.

Mississippi law allows voters who are in line at their polling places by the 7 p.m. closing time to cast their ballots regardless of how long it takes.

Mississippi Votes wanted that deadline extended for the four precincts, since many of the voters were denied the opportunity to vote after the precincts ran out of ballots and struggled to get new copies printed.

"We thought that there was a very solid argument that the polls needed to substantially be extended there," said Paloma Wu, the attorney who filed the case on behalf of Mississippi Votes and the Mississippi Center for Justice.

Mandate for Tate: Mandate for Tate: Reeves secures second term with hard-fought win over Presley

Arekia Bennett-Scott, executive director of Mississippi Votes, said in a Wednesday statement that the organization is "deeply concerned about the issues that occurred during yesterday’s elections in Hinds County."

"These issues deter eligible voters from participating in the democratic process and undermine the integrity of the election itself," she said.

A similar case was filed in Chancery Court by the Mississippi Democratic Party in which the party sought and was granted a one-hour extension at all polling places in Hinds County. The ruling issued by Hinds County Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas allowed Hinds County voters to continue to cast ballots past the official closing time.

Special Judge Jess Dickinson, who was appointed by the state Supreme Court to preside over the Mississippi Votes case filed in Circuit Court, wrote in his order that the Mississippi Votes' petition was granted in part and denied in part, but the ruling merely cited Mississippi law and said the four precincts should close at 7 p.m.

"So the question that remained after that order is, what was being granted and what was being denied?" Wu said.

Mississippi Votes asked Dickinson to reconsider his ruling, which he did by clarifying that voters in line at 7 p.m. would be allowed to vote at 9 p.m., which essentially changed nothing except to put a time limit on how long voting could continue for voters in line at 7 p.m.

"We got a denial of a motion for reconsideration saying if people are in line at 7, they can still vote at 9, but that's not the law. And it's not the relief we requested. It's neither. The law is if you're in line at 7, you can vote even if it's 11."

The ruling also contradicted the Chancery Court's ruling that allowed all Hinds County precincts to remain open until 8 p.m.

"So at the very least, it should have been 8 and the the Circuit Court shouldn't have been rolling back the Chancery Court's order," Wu said.

While the appeal will not change the outcome of the election that sent Reeves to four more years in the governor's seat, Mississippi Votes said voters still have a right to be heard and counted.

"It's not about who wins or loses," Wu said. "It's about who votes."

Wu on Wednesday filed a notice of appeal with the Mississippi Supreme Court on behalf of Mississippi Votes.

Some civic engagement groups that led get-out-the-vote efforts in Mississippi said the legal challenge could have an impact and possibly change or improve some policies and practices.

“It could maybe put some guardrails in place in terms of how this will be dealt with in the future,’’ said Cliff Albright, co-founder of Black Voters Matter, which just wrapped up a get-out-the-vote campaign in Mississippi.

The organization is working with Mississippi Votes and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Albright said it’s frustrating that in Mississippi and other states where there has been voter suppression it hasn’t led to efforts to undo results.

“There's rarely, in fact, almost never any consequences in terms of correcting the wrong,’’ he said.

Nsombi Lambright, president of the NAACP Jackson branch, said some organizations are considering options, including legal action. Meanwhile, she said, they will continue to monitor the purging of voters and a law permanently stripping people convicted of some felonies of the right to vote.

“In our last statewide election there were some great mistakes that were made at polling places that were similar to yesterday (Tuesday),’’ said Lambright, also executive director of One Voice, an advocacy organization. “It just doesn't seem like they learned anything from our last statewide election because it seems like these mistakes have gotten worse.’’

Do you have a story to share? Contact Lici Beveridge at lbeveridge@gannett.com. Follow her on X @licibev or Facebook at facebook.com/licibeveridge.

This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: Mississippi Center for Justice appeals Hinds County election ruling