If Mississippi voters pass the amendment this fall, a future candidate for statewide office need only win the popular vote to be deemed the election winner.
This statement can be attributed to Brandon Jones, Mississippi policy director for the SPLC Action Fund:
“Yesterday’s vote is a significant step forward in ending a Mississippi law written into the 1890 state constitution with the expressed intention to protect white political power in the state and disenfranchise Black voters.
If voters pass this measure in the fall, statewide offices in Mississippi can be rooted in a more democratic process, and voters can cast ballots without fear of a House of Representatives vote in Jackson overturning the will of the people.
Both last night’s vote and the vote this weekend to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the state flag work in tandem to dismantle vestiges of white supremacy in Mississippi.
In taking these votes, Mississippi legislators clearly took the lead from the thousands of Mississippians who have organized this year and for generations to battle systemic racism and lead the state to a brighter future.
