Voter Registration Top Concern As Elections Near

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Today is National Voter Registration Day, and with the November General Election just over a month away, it serves as a reminder of the importance of registering and actually going to the polls.

The goal is to highlight the importance of registering to vote and casting ballots.

Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann is traveling all over Mississippi reminding people of that, including the state’s newest voters.

On November 6th, voters across the country head to the polls.

Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann says when election season rolls around, getting people registered isn’t the biggest challenge. Getting those registered voters to the polls is.

“In Mississippi, we are running somewhere in the 85%. We are probably ahead of the national average of actual people registered to vote. Where we fall a little behind is actually casting a ballot.”

He says in the last primary turnout, out of 1.8 million voters in Mississippi, only 13% voted.

“Educate them or give them those statistics right there, so that encourages me and a lot of others to vote. I’ll definitely tell people that,” says Tiffany Bohon.

The low voter turnout is something seasoned voter and poll worker Christine Chandler has seen firsthand.

“It’s terrible to see all of those names in the poll books that are registered, but they will not come out and vote. They will not come out and if you ask them later, they’ll say, ‘Well, I forgot or I just didn’t.’ But then, they’re complaining”

“It’s a massive mammoth task, but we have to do it. In the last election, it was about 40% of people that just didn’t go to the polls and vote,” says State Representative Kabir Karriem.

Karriem joined Secretary Hosemann as he carried his message straight to the next generation of voters at Columbus High School.

Hosemann says people have an obligation to vote, not just their neighbors, but also to those 3,200 Mississippians overseas.

“How are you going to tell them it’s not important to go cast a ballot. I couldn’t take 10 minutes and go in my truck and cast a ballot, while you took a year of your life to sit in harms way in the sand dune somewhere? So, I think I hope that will resonate with people, like, you have a right to vote and there’s been a lot of people who have died for that right to vote.”

It’s a message that really hit home for this senior and encouraged her to register.

“What got to me was when they were talking about the people that are fighting for us, you know? People are actually putting their life on the line. That kind of got to me because, like I mean, it’s not that hard to vote, just vote,” says Keshala Williams.

September is also National Voter Registration Month.

The last day for voter registration before the November General Election is October 9th.