Thread by @ashtonpittman

BREAKING: At 3:55 p.m., Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson said that voters who registered to vote on May 31, 2022, are NOT in the poll books in today's congressional runoff elections and must vote affidavit.
mississippifreepress.org/25231/voters-w…

We learned this just three hours before polls close (7 p.m.) on a day when there are three important GOP primary runoffs—including two that could see incumbents lose re-election.

Voting information is here: mississippifreepress.org/25207/mississi…

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Here's why it's significant that voters who registered on May 31 aren't in the poll books in today's runoffs:

Mississippi requires you to register 30 days before an election in order to vote.

May 31 was the deadline. They should be in the books.mississippifreepress.org/25231/voters-w…

If you have to vote affidavit in today's #MSelex runoffs, make sure you follow up with your local circuit clerk after the election to confirm that you vote was counted.
mississippifreepress.org/25231/voters-w…

The Mississippi Secretary of State should be providing more information on how and why this happened soon. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson released a statement explaining why voters who registered on May 31 weren't included in the poll books.

@MississippiSOS's statements says that the issue affected 187 voters. See next tweets.👇🏻mississippifreepress.org/25231/voters-w…

Watson says the 187 voters whose names were not in the poll books due to the error include:

-45 in Congressional District 2
-68 in Congressional District 3
-74 in Congressional District 4

He says they were still allowed to vote affidavit.
mississippifreepress.org/25231/voters-w…

Watson says the State Election Management System auto sets the deadline in accordance with state law (30 days before an election).

But this year, that was May 30—Memorial Day. So the deadline was Tuesday, May 31 instead. SEMS set it for the 30th anyway.
mississippifreepress.org/25231/voters-w…

"According to Mississippi Election Code, when the voter registration deadline falls on a Sunday or holiday, the voter registration deadline should be moved to the following business day, which would have been May 31, 2022," Watson says.
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Watson: "Unfortunately, our office inadvertently missed correcting the date in SEMS and did not become aware of the error until a Circuit Clerk reported it this afternoon."
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Watson: "Due to the oversight, voters who have an effective voter registration date of May 31, 2022, would not appear in the pollbook at their precinct. This includes anyone who registered in person, postmarked a mail-in registration application..."
mississippifreepress.org/25231/voters-w…

Watson: "Local election officials will review affidavit ballots and accept all with an effective voter registration date on or before May 31, 2022."mississippifreepress.org/25231/voters-w…

Watson: "While those impacted were still allowed to vote, the experience was not quite the same, and for that, we sincerely apologize."mississippifreepress.org/25231/voters-w…

Watson: "This is the first time this problem has occurred, and our team already has logistics in place to prevent this issue from occurring in the future."
mississippifreepress.org/25231/voters-w…

Watson: "Voter confidence is of the utmost importance to me, and we will continue to work hard to remain the primary resource for trusted election information in Mississippi."
mississippifreepress.org/25231/voters-w…