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Disability rights group calls out anti-voting fraud laws for discrimination
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BATON ROUGE - National, state and local elections are just around the corner, but for individuals with disabilities, getting to the polls and casting a ballot could be more difficult than ever.
During the regular legislative session, Gov. Jeff Landry signed four anti voter fraud laws. Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, R-Port Allen, authored a bill that makes it illegal for a third party other than an immediate family member to assist more than one person with a mail-in ballot.
A non-profit organization Disability Rights Louisiana is suing the state over the measure. Attorney Andrew Bizer says the laws violate the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination of any kind at the polls.
"A third party is often their caretaker, and if the caretaker is limited to only helping one person then that will clearly leave plenty of folks with disabilities out of the polls," Bizer said.
Disability Rights Louisiana filed a preliminary injunction hoping to stop the measures from going into effect, but it was denied. Bizer says the goal now is to get the laws repealed before the 2025 elections.
"What we have is a concerted effort from a group of folks to limit those who can vote by mail," Bizer said. “The people who get caught in the crossfire are folks with disabilities who simply want to vote.”
The organization says one in three adults in Louisiana — more than 1,165,577 people — have a disability. They say disabled people are most likely to rely on absentee voting due to possibly having difficulties with mobility and transportation.
Senator Caleb Kleinpeter said he disagrees with the notion that the laws will prevent voters from legally participating in elections. He says the motion is an attempt to cut down on fraudulent ballot harvesting, which happens when someone offers an absentee voter assistance in completing the ballot.
Officials say it’s not a problem to assist voters at polling places who are not able to vote alone.
“We are happy to permit necessary assistance at polling places. This provision would ensure that the bad actors aren’t being paid to unduly pressure our vulnerable,” Kleinpeter said. “We want as many people to be able to vote in our elections, but we also want secure elections.”
Disability Rights Louisiana says there have been three instances of election fraud in the state since 2016. Kleinpeter's law goes into effect Thursday, Aug. 1
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