Greenwood woman sentenced in ballot harvesting case
GREENWOOD, Miss. — A Greenwood woman has been sentenced for her role in a ballot harvesting incident, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced.
Leflore County Justice Court Judge Jim Campbell sentenced Bobbie Jean Peoples on Dec. 2 for one count of transmission of a ballot mailed to another. The case was investigated and prosecuted by the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office.
Peoples was sentenced to six months in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The prison time was suspended, and Peoples was ordered to pay a fine of $2,718.75.
According to court records, in July 2023, Peoples knowingly collected and transmitted a ballot mailed to another individual without legal authorization.
“Free and fair elections are a pillar of our democracy,” Fitch said. “Ballot harvesting undermines trust in the fairness of our elections and we must be vigilant to maintain the integrity of the electoral process.”
The sentencing follows legislative efforts to tighten election security in the state. During the 2025 Legislative Session, Fitch worked with state Rep. Noah Sanford to pass House Bill 724. Signed into law on March 21, 2025, the legislation strengthens Mississippi’s ballot harvesting laws by making it a criminal offense to harvest an absentee ballot with the intent of preventing it from being counted.
