Gov. John Bel Edwards and Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin filed final briefs this week in a federal lawsuit that will determine what coronavirus protections will be in place for the Nov. 3 presidential election.
Both Edwards and Ardoin are listed as defendants in the voting-rights case brought by three Louisiana residents, the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice. But Edwards has urged the rejection of Ardoin’s plan because he says it doesn’t go far enough in protecting the voting rights of those most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The group Louisiana Vote-By-Mail has sided with Edwards’ arguments, noting that the coronavirus protections that were provided to voters in the July and August elections were eliminated in Ardoin’s Nov. 3 emergency plan.
“We’ve seen what they’ve done in other states, and there has to be a bare minimum of protection for these people in the middle of a pandemic,” Charlie Stephens, Louisiana Vote-By-Mail’s director, told the Louisiana Record. “Louisiana is offering no protections at all in the upcoming election.”
The Ardoin plan does allow those who have tested positive for COVID-19 to request an absentee ballot, but Edwards and others say that does not go far enough to protect voters’ constitutional rights.
“The proposed plan would have required anyone who has not tested positive for COVID-19 to vote in person, even if symptomatic or under quarantine or isolation,” Edwards’ response to the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction states. “This is contrary to (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) advice, as well as common sense.”
In addition, the response criticizes the plan for not providing absentee-ballot accommodations for those at high risk of contracting the virus and those who are caring for residents who are sick or at risk.
Louisiana Vote-By-Mail argues that the plan is also at odds with the recent increases in virus cases in the state.
“COVID-19 is now more widespread throughout Louisiana than ever, and a far greater number of Louisianans will vote in November as compared to the primary elections,” the group said in a recent statement. “It is unacceptable that our state remains one of only six not to expand absentee voting.”
Ardoin’s brief filed this week, however, noted that time constraints limit workable changes that can be made to the election process, especially considering that the vote-by-mail registration deadline for the Nov. 3 election is Oct. 5.
“Early voting begins on October 20,” the court brief states. “Changing the method of absentee balloting at this stage will invite cascading chaos into the system and harm more people through voter confusion than any court-ordered remedy would help.”