***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
Contact: Andrew Bizer of Bizer & DeReus
Phone: (504) 473-0018
Email: andrew@bizerlaw.com
DISABILITY RIGHTS LOUISIANA FILES LAWSUIT TO STOP NEW LAWS THAT SUPPRESS THE VOTE OF INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES
[BATON ROUGE, LA – July 10, 2024] – Disability Rights Louisiana (“DRLA”) has filed a lawsuit in Federal Court in the Middle District of Louisiana to prevent the enactment of recently passed laws that suppress the vote of individuals with disabilities, violating the Voting Rights Act.
Louisiana Acts No. 380 and 317, which go into effect on August 1, 2024, make it a crime to assist more than one person with mailing in an absentee ballot, unless that person is mailing ballots of immediate family members. This is in direct conflict with Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act which states that individuals with disabilities are entitled to assistance in voting by “a person of the voter’s choice….” These Acts directly impact people with disabilities who vote absentee, but do not have immediate family members available to help them mail their absentee ballots. Workers in nursing or group homes are now subject to criminal punishment if they drop more than one absentee ballot in the mailbox on behalf of their patient-residents.
Similarly, Louisiana Acts No. 712 and 302, which go into effect on July 1, 2025, make it a crime to serve as a witness for more than one absentee ballot. Absentee votes sent by mail in Louisiana must be witnessed to be counted. Criminalizing the witnessing of more than one absentee ballot also violates the Voting Rights Act’s mandate that disabled voters are entitled to voting assistance by “a person of the voter’s choice.”
DRLA is a non-profit protection and advocacy agency, specifically authorized by law to ensure the protection of, and to advocate for, the rights of individuals with disabilities. DRLA is being represented by the law firm of Bizer & DeReus along with the DRLA’s in-house attorneys.
Attorney Andrew Bizer of Bizer & DeReus, commented, “While folks were rightfully up in arms about the laws mandating the Ten Commandments in classrooms, laws that suppress the votes of the disabled were passed with much less fanfare. The Voting Rights Act gives people with disabilities the right to assistance in voting by anyone they trust. These new laws make that nearly impossible for people living in nursing or group homes. These laws are undemocratic and must be stopped.”
Attorney Melanie Bray of Disability Rights Louisiana stated, “These laws unnecessarily restrict people with disabilities, who are some of Louisiana’s most vulnerable populations, from voting. We think this challenge to these laws is necessary to protect those voices and ensure they have equal access to voting.”
Click here for a .pdf copy of the filed complaint
