Voting rights advocates filed a federal lawsuit Monday against Louisiana’s governor and chief elections officer, saying the state is doing too little to protect ballot access in November and should widen mail-in voting options amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The lawsuit was filed in Baton Rouge federal court on behalf of the Louisiana State Conference of the NAACP, the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice and three voters from Baton Rouge and Hammond. It challenges Louisiana’s restrictions on absentee by mail voting and the length of its early voting period for the Nov. 3 election — which features the presidential contest, congressional races and other competitions — and the state’s December runoff.
Without changes, “many of the state’s 2.89 million registered voters will be forced to make an unconscionable choice between voting and maintaining their health and safety, and that of their families and communities,” Zachery Morris of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, which is representing the organizations and voters, said in a statement.
Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards and Republican Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
“We have not yet been served with the lawsuit and cannot comment further at this time,” Ardoin spokesman Tyler Brey said in an email.