With the Support of the National Redistricting Foundation, All On The Line, an Organization's 501(c)(3) Affiliate, Four African-American Voters Sued State Officials in Federal Court over Mississippi's Outdated Statewide Electoral System, a Scheme based in Racism.
In almost every other State in America, Statewide Elections are decided by a Simple System: Count All of the Votes, and the Candidate with the Greatest Number of Votes Wins. But Not in Mississippi.
Mississippi has a Unique Extra Requirement: In Order to Win a Statewide Election, a Candidate must Win both a Majority of the Popular Vote and at least a Plurality of the Vote in 62 of the 122 State House of Representatives Districts.
If a Candidate doesn't fulfill Both Requirements, the Election is Decided by the Mississippi House of Representatives, and they're Not Required to Vote as their Districts did.
This System Dates all the way back to 1890, when White Mississippi Politicians in the Post-Reconstruction Era created this System in an effort to Suppress Black Voting Power and make sure African-Americans Wouldn't hold Statewide Office. It has No place in Modern American Politics.
State Officials are Willing to Manipulate the Districts to keep their Power.
And that's exactly what they've done, Gerrymandering African-American Votes into Concentrated Areas, and making it that much Harder for a Black Candidate or a Minority-Supported Candidate to Reach the 62 District Threshold.
No African-American in Mississippi has been Elected to Statewide Office since the 1890 Constitutional Convention enacted these and other Discriminatory Provisions, despite the Fact that Mississippi has the Highest Percentage of African-Americans of Any State in the Country.
And in a State with a History of Suppressing the Black Vote, from Poll Taxes to Violence at the Ballot Box, the fact that this System still Exists is Fundamentally Wrong.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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