Thread by @ashtonpittman

BREAKING: After Mississippi lawmakers failed to pass early voting and Gov. Reeves vowed a veto if they did, one lawmaker and some citizens are taking the matter to voters.

They'll file a ballot initiative tomorrow mandating 10 days of early voting. 1/mississippifreepress.org/10802/voting-s…

If petitioners gather enough signatures and voters adopt the proposed change, the Mississippi Constitution would require AT LEAST 10 days of early voting, including the two Saturdays prior to the election.

Currently, Mississippi offers no early voting. 2/
mississippifreepress.org/10802/voting-s…

“Long lines discourage voting, and last year, Gov. Reeves stated he would veto early voting legislation. This year, there were nine early voting bills submitted, but none of them got out of committee," said House Rep. Hestor Jackson-McCray. #MSLeg 3/
mississippifreepress.org/10802/voting-s…

Mississippi is just one of six states that do not offer in-person early voting, alongside Connecticut, Kentucky, Missouri, New Hampshire and South Carolina. But the other five at least have universal mail/absentee options (or offered them in 2020). 4/ mississippifreepress.org/10802/voting-s…

On Nov. 5, 2020, Gov. Reeves used the fact that some states were taking longer to declare a winner in the presidential race due to tight margins to argue against early voting, claiming it led to "chaos." (Early voting wasn't the problem, though). 5/
mississippifreepress.org/10802/voting-s…

Gov. Reeves, Nov. 5, 2020: "I will...do everything in my power to make sure universal mail-in voting & no-excuse early voting are not allowed in MS—not while I'm governor! Too much chaos. Only way it'd happen is if many GOP legislators override a veto." 6/ mississippifreepress.org/10802/voting-s…

American voter turnout broke records last year, including in Mississippi, but the Magnolia State still lagged behind most other states, coming in at No. 45 with 60% of the voter eligible population casting a ballot compared to 67% nationwide. 7/
mississippifreepress.org/10802/voting-s…

Organizers said #MSLeg inaction & Gov. Reeves’ promise to veto any early-voting bills, is why they decided that voters needed to make the decision. They must gather at least 106,190 valid signatures within a 12 month-period to make the 2023 ballot. 8/
mississippifreepress.org/10802/voting-s…

Text of the initiative:

"The Mississippi Constitution shall be amended in Article 12 to add Section 244B: There shall be no fewer than ten (10) business days of early voting 8am-5pm before every election, which shall include the two Saturdays before every election..." 9/

"...at the responsible Clerk’s Office and qualifying early voting precincts. The responsible County Circuit Clerk or Municipal Clerk for every election shall include more early voting locations based on the number of registered voters: one additional early voting location..." 10/

"...is required for each increment of thirty thousand (30,000) registered County Voters or ten thousand (10,000) Municipal Voters according to the latest federal decennial census. Early voting ballot totals shall be saved using a system so that ballots can be recounted..." 11/

"...for election certification and audit. Early voting ballot totals shall be added to election day results before 7pm on election day. The Secretary of State shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary to effectuate early voting, including measures to inform..." 12/

"...the public about the availability of early voting. If this initiative is approved by the electors, it shall take effect thirty (30) days from the date of the official declaration of the vote by the Secretary of State." 13/ mississippifreepress.org/10802/voting-s…

But remember: Getting an initiative on the ballot is a costly process that can take millions of dollars, lots of organizing, and typically requires far more ballots than the stated minimum requirements (lots of signatures get struck by officials).

The Mississippi Free Press will keep reporting on voting & elections in a way that puts democracy first over partisan red vs. blue games.

If you support our mission to uplift democracy in MS, follow @MSFreePress & consider a 1-time or recurring donation: mfp.ms/donate

For those of you asking about how to sign it, it will take some weeks or a couple months after filing the petition before organizers can begin collecting signatures. Follow and stay tuned.

*Hester Jackson-McCray, not "Hestor."

Apologies for the misspelling. All the "Nestor" tweets in my timeline today threw me off my game. 😫

Thanks for catching and correcting @DonnerKay