Bring Mississippi Into the 21st Century—Overturn Its Jim Crow-era Voting Laws

by Nsombi Lambright Haynes and Arekia Bennett

When it comes to voting, there is no denying a simple fact about Mississippi: our state has refused to eliminate antiquated laws that disproportionately silence Black and young voters.

In drafting the state’s constitution in 1890, white lawmakers with mal intent sought to limit the voting power of Black Freedmen by permanently disenfranchising those convicted of a specific set of felony offenses. And while felony disenfranchisement laws have been updated since the 1800s, the discriminatory spirit of these policies still lives today. Black Mississippians are still disproportionately harmed by these measures.

It is past time for state legislators to bring Mississippi into alignment with the nation by automatically restoring the right to vote of returning citizens and those with felony convictions. By failing to overturn policies rooted in Jim Crow racism, the state clings to a criminal legal system that belies our values as a state and makes regaining the right to vote nearly impossible. The state must act to modernize the voting-rights restoration process and ensure all Mississippians have equal access to the ballot box.

Felony disenfranchisement is a process in which a person loses the right to vote when convicted of any one of 22 specific felony offenses. When it comes to felony disenfranchisement in Mississippi, the facts speak for themselves. Mississippi now has the highest percentage of its residents denied the right to vote because of a felony conviction. A 2020 study by The Sentencing Project found that 235,150 Mississippians, or one in 10 of the state’s voting-age population, have lost their right to vote due to felony disenfranchisement. Those disenfranchised are more likely to be Black and young.

Mississippi has the third-highest percentage of disenfranchised Black citizens in the nation: 130,500 or 16% of the Black population—twice the national average. Most disenfranchised Mississippians are not incarcerated.

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