Civil Rights Groups Move to Defend Mississippi's Only Majority-Black Judicial Election District in DeSoto County

WASHINGTON — In response to President Trump's remarks this evening, Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project, issued the following statement: "Once again, President Trump is attempting to undermine public confidence in our elections by repeating blatant, outlandish lies. He promised the nation ‘really big news,’ and instead used a primetime spot to spew the same tired rhetoric to shake Americans’ confidence in their own elections. “Our democracy depends on voters having confidence that election outcomes are determined by ballots — not by conspiracy theories or efforts to rewrite history. Americans deserve leaders who strengthen our elections by respecting the rule of law and the will of the people, not by attacking the very systems that make self-government possible. “The Constitution does not give any president the authority to substitute their political will for the votes cast by eligible Americans. Election officials, courts, and communities across the country have long demonstrated that our elections are secure because they are administered through layers of safeguards, transparency, and accountability. “At the ACLU, we remain focused on protecting every voter's freedom to participate in our democracy. We will continue using every tool we have — from litigation to organizing — to make sure the will of the voters, not manufactured doubt, decides who governs."

WASHINGTON — In 2026, the American Civil Liberties Union will make its largest-ever investment in down ballot races, marking a historic escalation in its “Firewall for Freedom” strategy to protect civil liberties across the country. As part of this new campaign, the ACLU will spend $25.5 million across underfunded but critical state-level campaigns with an outsized impact on American’s rights and freedoms, from key ballot initiatives to state Supreme Court races, secretaries of state races, and state legislative races. “The ACLU and our millions of supporters across the country have been at the forefront of the fight to protect Americans’ civil rights and liberties, but these freedoms remain under attack both at the federal level and in the states. We need to fight back,” said Deirdre Schifeling, ACLU chief political and advocacy officer. “The Firewall for Freedom campaign will allow the ACLU to stop efforts to restrict reproductive and voting rights and protect our democracy at every level of the ballot. We see where the threats are emerging, and we and our supporters are ready to respond. This is our largest-ever down ballot effort with plans to contact hundreds of thousands of voters across our key states to help protect our fundamental rights and freedoms.” In recent campaign cycles, the ACLU and ACLU Foundation together have emerged as the largest institutional player in the ballot measure space on issues of reproductive freedom and democracy, with notable victories in Arizona, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Michigan, Montana, and Ohio. The ACLU and ACLU Voter Education Fund together have also become one of the biggest spenders in state Supreme Court races. Meanwhile state and local offices have proven increasingly decisive in determining the future of key rights and liberties, including voting rights, abortion access, and LGBTQ rights. This new $25.5 million campaign is a response to the new threats to civil liberties emerging at every level of the ballot and will be complemented by the ACLU’s national organizing infrastructure that helps educate voters and mobilize communities. Working with the ACLU’s 54 affiliates, the ACLU and the ACLU Foundation will work to beat back ballot measures aimed at overturning hard-fought victories to protect abortion rights and overturning the will of the people, as well as investing in initiatives to protect state courts from politicized judicial selections. The ACLU and ACLU Voter Education Fund will educate voters about important state Supreme Court races that impact civil rights and freedoms and equip them with information about how supermajorities in state legislatures can impact civil liberties across the country. The Firewall for Freedom effort will target the following races, ensuring they have the resources to educate voters to make informed decisions when so many resources are flooding into federal campaigns: Seven ballot measures addressing civil liberties in Montana, Kansas, Missouri, and Virginia. Supreme Court races in Michigan, Montana, and North Carolina. State legislative races in Georgia, Michigan, Montana and North Carolina. Secretary of state races in Arizona and Nevada.

We are spending millions across nine states to educate voters on critical races and ballot measures affecting abortion, LGBTQ rights, voting, fair courts, and democracy protections in the 2026 midterm elections.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Supreme Court issued a decision upholding voters’ rights and permitting Mississippi voters’ ballots that are cast on time to be counted after Election Day according to state law. The decision reverses the Fifth Circuit’s incorrect interpretation of federal Election Day statutes, which would have invalidated decades-old absentee ballot receipt laws and disenfranchised voters who followed all election rules but faced postal delays beyond their control. The American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Mississippi, on behalf of the League of Women Voters, Rural Coalition/Coalición Rural, Center for Rural Strategies, American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), and Disability Rights Mississippi (DRMS), filed an amicus brief arguing that the Fifth Circuit’s decision would have disrupted states’ ability to determine mail-ballot receipt rules in their own state and depending on the needs of their voters and disproportionately harmed voters with disabilities, rural voters, older voters, military and overseas voters, and working people who rely on absentee voting. The coalition released the following statement: “This decision protects the fundamental principle that people should not lose their right to vote because of mail delays outside their control. The Court recognized what states, Congress, and voters have understood for generations: federal law does not require states to discard timely-cast ballots simply because they arrive after Election Day. Today’s ruling preserves critical protections for voters with disabilities, rural communities, older voters, working families, and countless Americans who depend on absentee voting to participate in our democracy.” The organizations emphasized that the ruling preserves states’ flexibility to administer elections in ways that reflect local realities and protects longstanding election practices relied upon by voters nationwide. Read the Court's ruling here: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/24-1260_g3cn.pdf