We know that democracy is fragile, that it has never been colorblind, and that if we do not keep fighting for it, Mississippians will lose hard-earned and fought for voting rights. Through our redistricting and voting rights work, we fight so that every Mississippian’s vote counts and so that the voices of Black Mississippians are not diluted or ignored. Through our felony disenfranchisement work, we fight to restore the voting rights of those who currently can’t vote. We fight so that people who already have the right to vote are able to cast their vote, as in our voting work for people in prison and for Mississippians with disabilities. We fight voting injustice because it denies Black and low-income Mississippians equality under the law and the ability to shape their own futures.
Litigation: Selected Cases
Legislative Redistricting — In a case brought by MCJ and its partners, we won a federal court victory in the summer of 2024 requiring the State to create two new majority Black state senate districts and one new majority Black state house district. At our request, the Court ordered special elections for all redrawn districts the fall of 2025, which could lead to an increase in the number of Black legislators in Mississippi. This follows our victory in 2019 requiring the creation of another majority Black state senate district. Although the proportion of majority Black legislative districts is still not in line with Mississippi’s population, it is now much closer.
RNC v. Wetzel — The Republican National Party and two individual plaintiffs sued the State of Mississippi to invalidate its ballot receipt deadline, which permits the counting of absentee ballots cast and posted on or before election day which are received within five days. The Court granted the motion to intervene and defend the law filed by Vet Voice Foundation and Mississippi Alliance for Retired Americans. Those defendant-intervenors are represented by MCJ and Elias Law Group LLP. The federal district court adopted our position and rejected the lawsuit, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed and struck down Mississippi’s law. The Mississippi Attorney General is asking the United States Supreme Court to take the case.
Disability Rights Mississippi v. Fitch — MCJ joined with its partners in winning a federal court preliminary injunction preventing the State from implementing a 2023 Mississippi law that limited the universe of those who can help disabled voters cast absentee ballots by mail to election officials, postal employees, family and household members, and caregivers. Friends and neighbors were not allowed to help. In the 2024 legislative session, after our court victory, the legislature passed a revised bill that removed the restrictions we complained of and cured the problem that led to our lawsuit.
Saunders v. Randolph — We brought a successful challenge under the Mississippi Constitution to a law (2023 HB 1020) that requires the Chief Justice of the state supreme court to appoint four judges to the elected bench of the Hinds County Circuit Court. The appointed judges did not need to be elected or from Hinds County, which is 74% Black. We also challenged the part of the law that created a new court (the Capital Complex Improvement District, or CCID, court). Defendants in the court had no clear right to appeal and its judges can send misdemeanants to state prison. Its constituents include the whitest neighborhoods in Jackson—a city that is otherwise over 80% Black. The bill was the subject of months of protests across the city. As a result of the challenge, the Mississippi Supreme Court struck down the Hinds County Circuit Court appointed judgeships and recognized a right of appeal in the CCID Court. The plaintiffs—Mississippi residents Ann Saunders, Sabreen Sharrieff, and Dorothy Triplett—were represented by MCJ, The MacArthur Justice Center, the ACLU of Mississippi, and the Legal Defense & Educational Fund (LDF).
McLemore v. Hosemann — In our case with one of our partners challenging a provision of Mississippi’s racist 1890 Constitution that allowed Mississippi’s legislature to choose the winner of statewide elections under certain circumstances, the current legislature responded to the lawsuit by placing an amendment on the November ballot that was passed by the voters and repealed the 1890 provision.
Harness v. Hosemann — We and our partners also brought suit against the felon disfranchisement provision of that same racist 1890 Constitution because it targeted what the framers considered to be Black crimes. Unfortunately, the federal courts denied our claim.
Martinez v. Hancock County — Our lawsuit against a Mississippi county notorious for stopping Hispanic drivers on a pretense of drug searches led to a significant settlement for our clients — a family of three generations stopped and held at the sheriff’s office for hours while their car was thoroughly searched — and to adoption of new policies and significant structural changes in the sheriff’s department.
MIRA v. Watson — We challenged a 1927 Mississippi law requiring naturalized citizens, but no others, to present proof of citizenship in addition to the usual requirements to register to vote, and also Mississippi’s “matching” program that compares voter registration applications with the drivers license database and often leads to voter registration denials of Hispanic people based on inaccurate assumptions that they are not citizens. Along with one of our partners, we reached a settlement in that case to address the problem and the statute was repealed.
Program, Advocacy & Policy
- In Mississippi, many residents with a criminal record can vote even from jail or prison: We provide legal and technical expertise to community-based organizations on voting law and voting rights, and we provide voter registration support around the state.
- Monitor Jackson’s Capitol Complex Improvement District (CCID) Court: Provide court monitoring support for the MacArthur Justice Center’s CCID Court monitoring project, which is related to our joint challenge to the court’s existence.
- Provide real-time legal tracking, advocacy tools, and legislative analysis: Provide legal analysis and policy tracking re: voting issues.
Resources
- How can we help you? Fill out an Impact Campaign Contact Form to let us know.
- Fight voter disenfranchisement in Mississippi. Many Mississippians with felony convictions can vote. Can you?: Your right to vote is NEVER taken away by a misdemeanor, federal, or out-of-state conviction Your right to vote is ONLY taken away by a felony-level conviction in a Mississippi state court of one 23 crimes. Visit our EVERY MISSISSIPPIAN VOTING GUIDE for more info.
- Get your community involved in democracy-building! Use our Civic Engagement tools to get you and your community involved in elections and in holding elected officials accountable.
- Support protesters for voting rights. Learn about becoming a Legal Observer or having MCJ’s Legal Observer program support your protest.