Thread by @ashtonpittman

BREAKING: Election officials in Madison County quietly rezoned 2,000 Black & Hispanic voters out of a majority white precinct into an already-majority Black one.

Now, 3,670 mostly non-white voters must share 25 parking spaces and five voting machines. mississippifreepress.org/6492/madison-c…

The Recreation Center Precinct is now overwhelmingly white and serves 2,470 voters with hundreds of parking spaces & 8-10 polling stations.

The Mark Apartments precinct is now overwhelmingly Black, with 3,670 voters, 25 parking spaces & 5 voting machines. mississippifreepress.org/6492/madison-c…

From 2016 in the same location these voters were rezoned:

“The City of Ridgeland, Mississippi, has unlawfully attempted to diminish its minority population by eliminating, through rezoning, at least five apartment complexes ... to curb 'Jackson’s rot.'" mississippifreepress.org/6492/madison-c…

Madison County quietly changed the voting location for these 2,500 voters in July.

But several Black voters told the Mississippi Free Press they never received notice about the change.
mississippifreepress.org/6492/madison-c…

Carol Mann, a candidate, discovered the change while canvassing. She said voters are being moved from a location “with adequate polling stations and adequate parking to an extremely cramped polling place” and that the change will cause “chaos & confusion." mississippifreepress.org/6492/madison-c…

Carol Mann says Madison County Circuit Clerk Anita Wray told her the US Department of Justice ordered her to make the precinct changes after a meeting earlier this year.

But the DOJ hasn't been in charge of overseeing MS precinct changes since 2013. mississippifreepress.org/6492/madison-c…

If you believe our work at @MSFreePress is important, please consider a one-time or recurring donation to support non-profit journalism that holds power to account (with no pay walls!).

We're $8,000 away from our Oct. 31 goal of $115,000. formississippi.networkforgood.com/projects/87723…

In one fell swoop, Madison officials packed 42% of District 1's non-white voters into an already majority non-white precinct (map: @wspittman).

In 2018, Democrat Mike Espy won two of the district's precincts. This change almost ensures all but one go GOP.
mississippifreepress.org/6492/madison-c…

This was the first time I've ever tried to ask an election commissioner or circuit clerk about a polling precinct change and been told that I must direct all questions to their lawyer.

These are public officials, guys.
mississippifreepress.org/6492/madison-c…

There's no way I could've done this story with the proper context about the demographics of the targeted area without @wspittman's expertise at examining data and census records. Also, he made a helpful infographic to go with this story: mississippifreepress.org/6492/madison-c…

NOTE: As Secretary of State Michael Watson notes here, @MississippiSOS is NOT in charge of relocating polling places.

Mississippi is a bottom-up state for elections/voting, not top-down.

Local elections are important! (Supervisors, circuit clerks, election commissioners, etc).

https://twitter.com/MichaelWatsonMS/status/1322179033916989440

UPDATE: Madison County has failed not only to notify many voters of the precinct change, but to put up proper signage.

So as of today, the NAACP, League of Women Voters & Common Cause have begun erecting these signs to let voters know about the change. mississippifreepress.org/6492/madison-c…