Mississippi Could Drop Jim Crow-Era Statewide Voting Process

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Mississippi has just retired its Confederate-themed state flag and now the state’s voting process is under consideration of also being retired.

The state’s voters will decide in November whether to dump an election process that dates to the Jim Crow era.

The state is facing pressure from a lawsuit and possible action from a federal judge. Legislators are putting a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November. It would simplify elections for governor and other statewide officials by erasing an Electoral College-type provision from Mississippi’s 1890 constitution.

African American plaintiffs who sued the state last year argued that the election process with multiple steps was written to dilute Black voting power.

(Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.)