“It’s all about who can get people out to vote,” said Ward 2 Councilman Joseph Mickens. “When (Republicans) come out with stuff like that, it’s going to motivate the base.”

Mickens — who is a candidate for District 3 Justice Court judge in the current county election cycle — is talking about Senate Bill 2358, which goes into effect July 1. The bill is designed to combat so-called “ballot harvesting,” in which political operatives allegedly collect and handle large numbers of absentee ballots.

Under SB 2358, only election officials; Post Office employees; “any other individual who is allowed by federal law to collect and transmit United States mail;” family members, household members or caregivers of the person to whom the ballot was mailed; and a “common carrier who transports goods from one place to another for a fee” may handle mail-in ballots.

Absentee ballots are available by mail or for early in-person voting to voters who are 65 or over; any voter who has a temporary or permanent physical disability; or any person who is that person’s caretaker; or any voter who will be away from home on election day, including college students.

Before this law’s passage, anyone who was over 18 years old could provide a witness signature on an absentee ballot for a voter who was permanently or temporarily disabled, or illiterate.

While Lowndes County elections haven’t swung wildly in recent years due to absentee volume, Columbus city elections have been known to hinge on them.

In 2017, Columbus saw 1,069 absentee ballots cast in the city election cycle, by far the largest number among peer cities. That same cycle, Meridian saw 402 absentee ballots cast and Starkville had 194.

Mickens, who secured reelection to his council seat that year, got more votes via absentees (180) than machine votes on election day (178). Mickens’ wife provided the witness signature on 30 absentee ballots cast in that race.

Mickens told The Dispatch Monday he believes this is the state’s attempt at suppressing the Black vote. He doesn’t believe it will work.

“When you look at what was done in Georgia, Philly, Arizona, they shut down polls and stopped early voting, but people still stood in line to vote,” Mickens said. “It’s not going to go the way they think it’s going to happen. … They’re trying to deprive certain people of their vote. That’s how I see it.”

District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks said he hopes the bill will cut down on absentee fraud. Brooks, back in 2019, called for the Secretary of State’s office to investigate absentee fraud, claiming that ballots in a Ward 4 city special election were overwhelmingly favoring one candidate. There were six candidates in the race to replace Fred Jackson after his resignation. Pierre Beard won the seat.

Brooks said people in the past weren’t in control of their own ballots.

“You pay all these people to go out and pick up absentee ballots, and it’s usually for senior citizens,” he said. “They can’t always read or understand. (Harvesters) will get them to sign the ballot and sign across the back of the envelope, but then they’ll mark it the way they want to. They tell voters they vote one way when they really didn’t.”

Brooks said he would like to see circuit clerks hire temporary workers to go out and get absentee ballots.

“I want people who are disabled or elderly and want to vote to be able to do it and not be manipulated,” Brooks said. “… If I see people violating absentee ballot laws and misusing vulnerable people, I’m going to be the first somebody to try and force the issue.”

Integrity or suppression?
Republican District 17 Sen. Chuck Younger, a co-sponsor for the bill, told The Dispatch he thought the bill was a valuable tool to protect election integrity.

“It’s going to give the perception of election integrity,” Younger said. “Perception is just as important as the integrity itself on an election.”
The law wouldn’t make it any harder to vote, Younger said.

“Caregivers, immediate family members, election officials can all still help you,” he said. “… I think you ought to have to go the extra mile to vote. It shouldn’t be that easy. … I think we need to make (voting) more secure.”

District 39 Rep. Dana McLean, a Republican, said she supported the bill in principle but abstained from voting for it because she thought it was too broad.

“You’ve got the exceptions on who can collect or transmit a ballot, but it doesn’t allow for your next-door neighbor, for example,” McLean said. “You could have an elderly person who doesn’t live with a family member or caregiver but might need a neighbor or friend to transmit their absentee ballot, and it might not have time to make it through the mail.”

McLean said she would have liked to see more allowances for friends, neighbors or church members to help deliver someone’s absentee.
District 41 Rep. Kabir Karriem, a Democrat, agreed there was too much of a gray area in the bill.

“I don’t think there is enough of a problem for them to create more of a problem with bad legislation,” Karriem said. “… I believe it’s disenfranchising our most vulnerable population in the state. … It puts too much of a burden on those individuals.

“I’m not for doing anything that has the ability to suppress the vote and make voting harder,” he added. “This bill could really affect disabled voters and senior citizens in communities around the state.”

Republican District 37 Rep. Andy Boyd, like Younger, said he supported the bill to bring more integrity to the voting process.

“Just the idea to me that somebody could go gather ballots just screams ‘no integrity,’” he said. “… It’s divisive, and we need to get back to pride in our country and having some integrity in the voting process.”

Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.

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