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4 Nov, 5 tweets, 2 min read
BREAKING: Mississippi overwhelmingly voted to end a Jim Crow-era "electoral college"-like system for picking governors, which was intended to dilute the power of Black voters.

Mississippi will now choose top elected officials only by popular vote. #MSElex mississippifreepress.org/6733/mississip…
PSST: America's national electoral college is also rooted in upholding white supremacy and slavery. That's where MS got the idea.

At the federal convention in 1787, James Madison said he'd prefer a popular vote—if not for southern resistance to the idea.
mississippifreepress.org/6658/voters-co…
Mississippi also voted for a new state flag tonight, repudiating its old Confederate flag: mississippifreepress.org/6731/mississip…
Mississippi also voted overwhelmingly to legalize medical marijuana tonight: mississippifreepress.org/6738/mississip…
If you support our work, please help keep it going with a one-time or recurring donation to non-profit journalism @MSFreePress.

The first $5000 our supporters give after midnight tonight will be TRIPLED with Newsmatch, so it's the BEST time to give: mfp.ms/donate

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More from @ashtonpittman

Ashton Pittman Profile picture
3 Nov
"If you don't vote, you don't count."

These were among the last words Hattiesburg voting rights leader Vernon Dahmer spoke on his death bed after the KKK firebombed his home; he was mortally wounded saving wife & children.

His wife, Ellie, later became an election commissioner.
You can see the sheer joy on Ellie Dahmer's face as she unveiled a monument of her husband in Downtown Hattiesburg earlier this year.

It's one of my favorite photos I've ever shot.
You can see Vernon Dahmer's family, including the kids he saved, at the front row of the courthouse where the unveiling happened.

But you can also see looming behind a tall Confederate statue.

Forrest County could vote to remove it today. (Photo by @wspittman).
Read 5 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
3 Nov
NEW: Confusion & chaos unfolded at a Madison County precinct today where officials quietly moved 2000 mostly Black voters, tripling the tiny precinct's voter roll.

Voters waited hours. Some arrived after waiting 20 minutes in line at the old precinct. mississippifreepress.org/6704/confusion…
At the now overwhelmingly white precinct Madison Co. officials moved voters out of, voting took 20-40 minutes & there was ample parking.

The ones moved to the majority Black precinct waited two hours, filling multiple nearby parking lots. #Election2020 mississippifreepress.org/6704/confusion…
“I got halfway through the line & got told the (precinct)...had changed, so now I have to go to a different place and do a line all over again. So much for going early to cut time," said Nate Schumann, who then went to the Mark Apartments & waited 2 hours. mississippifreepress.org/6704/confusion…
Read 7 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
3 Nov
IMPORTANT: There is conflicting info about a Hinds County polling location.

In a press statement this week, the Hinds Election Commission said claims Precinct 46 had changed was a scam.

But the SOS polling place locator, which Hinds inputs info for, gives a new location. 1/
Hinds' statement claims Precinct 46 is still at United Church of Christ and that scammers are telling people it isn't to misdirect their vote.

But when we put in an address for that precinct, the SOS polling locator tells us Ascension Lutheran is now the P 46 polling place. 2/
Polls should have opened at 7. Can anyone who has voted at Precinct 46 confirm for us @MSFreePress whether the correct polling place is United Church of Christ or Ascension Lutheran? Thank you! 3/
Read 4 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
2 Nov
NEW: Absentee voters in Mississippi's Washington & Sunflower counties have almost QUADRUPLED their 2016 totals. Both counties are about 75% Black.

They smashed records despite the fact that MS is the only state that didn't expand absentee or early voting.
mississippifreepress.org/6630/two-major…
The fact that voters in Sunflower county have cast 370% as many absentee votes as in 2016 is particularly notable, because the county’s active voter rolls have declined by nearly 1,000 since 2016.

Statewide, MS voters are at 218% of 2016. mississippifreepress.org/6630/two-major…
Hinds County voters have returned 318% as many absentee ballots as they cast in 2016. Hinds County, which includes the capital City of Jackson, is more than 70% Black. mississippifreepress.org/6630/two-major…
Read 4 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
1 Nov
BREAKING: Local Mississippi officials moved 3x as many polling locations since the spring primaries as reported to the Secretary of State's office, affecting about 65,000 voters.

SOS said they had been notified of just 17 precinct changes. We found 55. mississippifreepress.org/6577/mississip…
Many MS voters use the state's polling place locator to know where to vote on election day, but we found that some counties have failed to update the database it relies on to reflect location changes.

Use our map+chart tools to browse the 55 that changed: mississippifreepress.org/6577/mississip…
If you support our work, please help keep it going with a one-time or recurring donation to non-profit journalism @MSFreePress.

The first $5000 our supporters give after midnight tonight will be TRIPLED with Newsmatch, so it's the BEST time to give: mfp.ms/donate
Read 6 tweets
Ashton Pittman Profile picture
30 Oct
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…
Read 12 tweets

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