JACKSON, Miss.—Voters in Raymond, Mississippi, who regularly vote at Belmont Missionary Baptist Church will do so again this year, the Hinds County Board of Supervisors announced Tuesday. The building holds two voting precincts, Raymond 1 and Raymond 2.
“We are very confident that the voting process will continue as it should, and every voter will be allowed to vote,” Hinds County Board of Supervisors President Robert Graham said.
The board had originally approved changing the location of Raymond 1 after the Hinds County Election Commission reportedly received an email from Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson’s office asking for the two precincts to be spaced further apart, Hinds County Supervisor Wanda Evers said. However, Watson’s Deputy Communications Director Alana Magliolo denied the existence of such an email in an email to the Mississippi Free Press on Wednesday.
Evers did not personally see an email, but was relayed the information by the Hinds County Election Commission, Evers’ media contact, Felecia Tripp, told the Mississippi Free Press. The commission’s phone number was disconnected as of Wednesday—although it was functional in September—so they could not be reached for comment.
The board previously voted to change the polling location for Raymond 1, but the change did not go into effect due to exclusion of the word “emergency” from the order, Evers said.
“I was not notified that it hadn’t been changed—and I’m just being transparent, and I’m being honest—we (were) not notified until a constituent came up to me yesterday,” Evers said.
The change was rejected because House Bill 1419 prohibits moving polling locations within the 60 days prior to an election outside of emergency situations as of July 1, 2025. House Rep. Zakiya Summers, who authored the law, served on the Hinds County Election Commission from 2016 until taking her current office in 2020.
In 2023, Hinds County moved two polling locations just hours before polls opened for primary elections. A ballot shortage in the November election that year drew congressional scrutiny, although such shortages are not an ongoing issue.
Hinds County Board of Supervisors Attorney Tony Gaylor emphasized that Raymond residents will be voting at the same polling locations they used in the last election.
“People will vote where they’ve been voting …,” Hinds County Board of Supervisors Attorney Tony Gaylor said. “There won’t be a new place for them to go.”
Hinds County poll workers, county supervisors and election commissioners are training for elections throughout the week, Graham said, in addition to testing polling machines.
While there are no changes for the upcoming election, Raymond 1 will be moved to a new location in January, Evers said.
A third voting precinct, labeled DG, is located at Raymond’s Spring Hill Christian Center, county records show. A full list of Hinds County voting precincts can be found here, and the Secretary of State website provides a precinct location finder for voters.
Additional information about elections are typically available on the county website, but the Hinds County website remains down as of Wednesday afternoon.
Absentee voting in Hinds County is ongoing. The election will be held on Nov. 3.
Follow the Mississippi Free Press’ coverage of the 2026 elections and read past stories here.
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