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In elections across the state on Tuesday, June 8, Mississippians will vote for leaders who will serve their towns and cities for the next four years, including mayors, city councilmembers, alderpersons and other offices.
On Election Day last November, many Mississippians waited for hours in line to cast their ballots at some precincts, requiring some to miss work or find babysitters for their children. Now, a north Mississippi lawmaker and a group of activists have a plan to make democracy more accessible and flexible.
Driver’s license suspensions over unpaid fines have long triggered a devastating domino effect on poor Americans, costing them not only their ability to commute, but their jobs and livelihood. But the 35 states that continue to enforce such penalties could find new reasons to reconsider if a bill that U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican, and Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, introduced today becomes law.
A new federal voting-rights bill would not overturn Mississippi’s photo-identification requirement for voting, despite claims U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith repeated yesterday as she denounced S. 1, the “For The People Act,” casting it as a “radical” intrusion on state’s powers.
In the seven years since the Holder decision, Mississippi has closed 6% of its precincts, a total loss of 120 polling places across the state. The two counties that have experienced the largest precinct loss since Shelby County vs. Holder are also the two most populous counties in the state: Hinds and Harrison, each with a population well over 200,000.
Since the spring, local Mississippi officials have moved 17 polling places that serve about 18,000 voters, Secretary of State Michael Watson announced Tuesday. The changes took place after the March 10 party primaries.
The U.S. has held elections in worse times than now, but this year brings daunting challenges to voting. Here, academic experts describe five major threats to election 2020—and one shares tips to make sure your vote is counted anyway.
With five days to go until the Oct. 31 deadline, Mississippians in Washington, Hinds, Harrison and Sunflower counties have already returned twice as many absentee ballots for this year’s general election compared to 2016. Washington, Hinds and Sunflower each have non-white populations of at least 70%, and states nationwide have reported large jumps in African American early voting turnout. In Harrison County, which includes Biloxi and Gulfport, Black voters make up 26% of the population.
Mississippians who vote absentee will have more protections to ensure election officials count their ballots this year. Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson made changes to the process after resident plaintiffs and civil rights groups filed a lawsuit, which the plaintiffs dismissed today in light of a new “curing” process.
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