The League of Women Voters of East Central Mississippi thanks Michael Watson, Mississippi’s secretary of state, for addressing potential voting issues in upcoming elections due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We share Secretary Watson’s view that the time to act is now to prepare safe opportunities for all citizens to exercise their right to vote.

A key component of Secretary Watson’s plan is “urging the legislature to adopt an additional absentee excuse to allow Mississippians to absentee vote in person.” Currently, a voter in Mississippi can vote absentee for one of the following reasons:

1. The voter will be outside of his or her home county on Election Day.

2. The voter is a “student, teacher or administrator at a school whose studies or employment there necessitates” absence from the voter’s home county on Election Day (spouses and dependents of such voters are also eligible to vote absentee).

3. The voter is disabled and therefore unable to vote in person.

4. The voter is the parent, spouse or dependent of a disabled person “who is hospitalized outside of his/her county of residence of more than 50 miles away” and will be with the disabled person on Election Day.

5. The voter is 65 years old or older.

6. The voter is required to be at work on Election Day during polling hours.

For the upcoming November election, LWV-ECM requests the use of absentee mail-in ballots to create practical and safe voting conditions for all Mississippians. Since everyone is susceptible to COVID-19, all voters would fall under the disability category (item #3 in the above list) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This would require legislative action and aligns with Secretary Watson’s plan’s key component of “urging the legislature to adopt an additional absentee excuse.” We reiterate that the time to act is now.

LWV-ECM makes this request in the spirit of democracy and the belief that all citizens have the right to vote and vote safely. We do not view this temporary definition of disability as an expansion of government control or as an opportunity for fraud. Recent studies reveal that the majority of Americans favor vote by mail or absentee ballot and that mail-in voting does not favor one party over another. Currently, the military and 35 states have safely used mail-in or no-excuse voting. If 70% of the country can do it, Mississippi can also and without compromising Mississippi values.

This practical extension of a current voting option can apply to all voters. As Secretary Watson states, “Your right to vote should not be among the pandemic’s victims.”

LWV-ECM is committed to empowering and educating voters. We are nonpartisan, neither supporting nor opposing candidates or parties. Please visit the national League’s website, VOTE411.org, which provides essential information about the election process in each state.

Debbie Ford and Becky Glover are co-presidents of League of Women Voters-East Central Mississippi.