Voter Who Sued Louisiana For Ballot Access Says Voting Should Always Be Easy

From the Louisiana Illuminator:

By JC Canicosa

November 12, 2020

When Jennifer Harding started caretaking for her mother, father and grandmother in March, she and her family started isolating from the rest of the world.

“Before even the stay-at-home order went into place, we took our son out of school,” Harding said.

Harding was worried about the safety of her mother who has post-polio syndrome, father who has Parkinson’s Disease and grandmother who has been diagnosed with dementia. And by the time Harding needed to get her ballot in for the presidential election, the state’s election plan didn’t do much to quell those worries.

In August, Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin’s election plan required COVID-19 patients and others who are ill to present a sworn certificate from a physician in order to receive an absentee ballot — which was not a requirement under normal non-pandemic election conditions.

Harding, who works as a community organizer for Voice of the Experienced, an organization dedicated to expanding voting rights for the formerly incarcerated, said she knew there would be “people like me who have been taking on these extreme precautions but are still feeling they will still have to go vote in-person.”

“How can we ensure we get expanded access for folks who don’t feel comfortable (voting in-person)?” Harding asked.

Her worries led Harding to be the plaintiff in two lawsuits against the state and their election plan. The result of the Harding v Edwards decision was an expanded early voting in Louisiana to October 16-27 and added five COVID-related excuses that people can use to vote by mail.

Louisianans could apply for an absentee ballot for COVID-related reasons if they were at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 due to serious underlying medical conditions, had to quarantine or isolate, experience COVID-19 symptoms or cared for an individual who was at high risk of severe illness from COVID-19.

The ruling meant Harding could vote absentee and not have to worry about her parents or grandparents’ health.

“Democracy is a verb, we have to all have to actively be doing democracy,” Harding said. “You shouldn’t have to risk your life to cast your vote in the United States of America. It felt important enough (of a cause) for me to join a lawsuit.”

Though the courts ruled in Harding’s favor, she said she still doesn’t understand why absentee ballot applications can’t be simpler so voters have to jump through less hoops. She said the process currently in place limits people.

“What we want to do is make sure people feel they have the option to vote safely in the way that they choose that’s best for them no matter what,” Harding said. “You have to wonder, ‘why make it so confusing?’”

The absentee ballot application also includes an affidavit on the bottom that threatens a $2,000 fine or imprisonment for up to two years if the voter provides any false information, which Harding said scared some voters off.

A total of 3,490 voters, or 0.16% of the 2.1 million voters who cast a ballot in the presidential race, used mail-in ballots, according to The Advocate. Harding attributes the small percentage of Louisiana voters using mail-in ballots to politically charged rhetoric and too narrow and confusing COVID-related conditions.

The court case ruling only applies to the November election and the runoff, Harding said. “This pandemic isn’t going away, there’s an election coming up in March and I would really like to see us have a safe option to vote as long as this pandemic is a threat.”

The Louisiana Illuminator is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization driven by its mission to cast light on how decisions are made in Baton Rouge and how they affect the lives of everyday Louisianians, particularly those who are poor or otherwise marginalized.