Thread by @ashtonpittman

This is a load of partisan bull.

1. Mississippi—the only state that did not significantly expand voting access (a "scheme," the governor calls it) in the midst of the deadliest pandemic in 100 years—is one of just THREE states (with MO & OK) that did not exceed 2008 turnout.

https://twitter.com/tatereeves/status/1338517344516182017

2. Other states' election systems were not "upended" with "last-minute schemes" to "radically alter voting methods."

Instead, other states made voting more accessible to all, ensuring historic turnout. That's not a "last-minute scheme." That's democracy.

https://twitter.com/tatereeves/status/1338517344516182017

3. But Mississippi did ensure that many poor rural and Black voters in this state remained effectively disenfranchised—and made many risk their safety by voting in person.

https://twitter.com/tatereeves/status/1338517344516182017

4. As I wrote on Dec. 11: "Protect the integrity of our elections" is a dog whistle that means, "disenfranchise Black voters and protect white supremacy."

That's why all these lawsuits and efforts to throw votes out have zeroed in on majority Black areas.

https://twitter.com/tatereeves/status/1338517344516182017

Similarly, "legal votes" is code for "white votes" and "illegal votes" is code for "Black votes" (and votes from other groups that the people who use these terms to delegitimize the election results use).

https://twitter.com/ashtonpittman/status/1337597841129287686

Mississippi already ensures 127,000 Black Mississippians are disenfranchised by felony voter laws. Without them, a study found Mississippi would have split 50-50 for Trump/Clinton in 2016. Without that one form of disenfranchisement, MS would be purple.

https://twitter.com/ashtonpittman/status/1324652674743238656

"Talk of 'election integrity' by the GOP is intertwined with its modern history of pandering to racist elements of American life; any attempt to disentangle these stories and tell them separately is disingenuous even if it angers partisans."
—@ClareMalone

https://twitter.com/tatereeves/status/1338517344516182017

As I wrote on Dec. 8: When people are attacking democracy to stop Black and brown people from voting...Don't use their poll-tested language of "cracking down" on "ballot harvesting" or "election integrity."

This is modern Jim Crow. Period.

https://twitter.com/tatereeves/status/1338517344516182017

The media has reported these phony euphemisms about "election integrity" and "voter fraud" for years and helped create a justification for anti-democracy demagogues who want to restrict voting and tamp down on Black voter turnout. Stop doing it.

https://twitter.com/ashtonpittman/status/1336421107272994817?s=20

Also: Mississippi DID make changes to our system—like allowing voters to "cure" ballot signature mismatches AFTER the election.

Trump sued Pennsylvania (which Biden won) to throw out votes bc of PA's decision to allow curing.

Funny—no lawsuit against MS! mississippifreepress.org/6278/mississip…

If you wanna talk about "last minute schemes to radically alter voting methods," consider Madison County, where officials quietly rezoned 2,000 Black & Hispanic voters out of a majority white precinct into a majority Black one shortly before the election.
mississippifreepress.org/6492/madison-c…

The result: The Recreation Center Precinct became overwhelmingly white & served 2,500 voters with 100s of parking spaces & 8-10 polling stations.

The Mark Apartments precinct became overwhelmingly Black with 3000+ voters, 25 parking spaces & 5 machines. mississippifreepress.org/6492/madison-c…

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. mississippifreepress.org/6704/confusion…

If Mississippi leaders (Republican or Democrat) truly care about "election integrity," then they should care about racial disparities caused by closing/rezoning precincts. They should care about voters having to wait hours in line in a pandemic. mississippifreepress.org/6704/confusion…

But ensuring that all eligible Mississippians are able to vote safely and easily is not a priority for many who talk about "election integrity"—a dogwhistle that, on the contrary, very often means ensuring certain Mississippians CANNOT vote easily. mississippifreepress.org/6704/confusion…