BATON ROUGE – Louisiana’s emergency plan to expand the number of people eligible to request absentee ballots for the July 11 presidential primary election and the upcoming Aug. 15 municipal elections has been upheld by a federal judge.
Two different lawsuits were filed attempting to postpone Saturday’s election, arguing that it would put voters at risk of contracting COVID-19.
Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin created the plan to expand mail-in or absentee voting throughout the state, which was approved by the legislature after modifications by Republicans who initially opposed the proposal. The emergency plan that eventually passed permitted more people to qualify for mail-in ballots and also provided six additional days for early voting.
Under Ardoin’s emergency plan, people who affirm on the application that they have certain medical conditions that put them at higher risk for COVID-19 were able to apply for absentee ballots. Others who could potentially qualify included those who were under quarantine because of the virus and those who were advised by a health provider to self-quarantine.
People exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms and waiting for medical confirmation were also deemed eligible. Those caring for someone in quarantine because of COVID-19 were also allowed to apply for absentee ballots.
Groups who objected to Ardoin’s emergency waivers included the League of Women Voters of Louisiana, the Louisiana conference of the NAACP, Crescent City Media Group, Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, and several individuals. The groups said that the requirement that a witness was needed to sign the absentee-ballot request form was unnecessary and restrictive.
In her decision to uphold Ardoin’s plan, U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick, an Obama appointee, rejected the argument that Louisiana voters were being “forced to choose” between their health and voting.
“The potential presence of the virus in their polling place is not a legal impairment of their right; it is an epidemiological reality to which state officials have responded, not by impairing voting rights, but by expanding them,” Dick said in her decision.
Louisiana’s presidential primary had originally been scheduled for April 4. It was held on July 11.
Early voting for the Aug. 15 election will be held from July 25 through Aug. 8, excluding Sunday, July 26 and Sunday, Aug. 2. The deadline to request an absentee ballot for the municipal election is Aug. 11 by 4:30 p.m.