JACKSON, MS (WLBT) – Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann is encouraging every qualified voter to cast a ballot next Tuesday.
Two weeks ago Hosemann visited Mississippi troops on the Kuwait – Iraqi border. He says the 3,200 men and women were given “Mississippi Misses You” bracelets and every one of them takes the right to vote seriously.
He also says every voter in this state should get rid of excuses and recognize their obligation to head to the polls.
“That obligation is to these people,” Hosemann said. “These people who won’t be here, whose families are here, whose car didn’t start, whose child got sick, who had all the other problems that we have in Mississippi every day. They have them except they’re in 10 foreign countries. They’re not just stationed in Kuwait. They’re all over, and they are all over the bad places defending Mississippi’s right to cast a ballot.”
The Secretary of State says there are 1.8 million registered voters in Mississippi, but in 2016 only 64 percent went to the polls.
The in-person absentee voting deadline is coming up Saturday, November 3.
Circuit Clerk’s offices will be open from 8 a.m. to noon. If you mail in absentee ballots they must be received by 5 p.m. Monday, November 5.
So far more than 45,000 nabsentee ballots have been requested.
Hosemann also says his office will have observers in 30 Mississippi counties and additional staff will be provided by the State Attorney General’s office to protect the integrity of the election.
Original post: WLBT