Ellington

There's no argument that the right to vote has been hard won in Mississippi, but this election year only a fragment of the state's citizens, black or white, is likely to bother to lock down a decision at the polls. You'd think after all the work that went into ensuring the right to vote here that it would be something to savor, if but for the sole excuse of slipping away from the workplace for an hour or just for the sake of democracy.

But that's just not happening, according to Secretary of State Eric Clark, a Democrat who is up for re-election in November and running in the primary unopposed.

"People have gotten used to air-conditioning. Folks are basically fat and happy, and they don't care enough to go out and vote," Clark said in a recent interview. "No, it's not just a Mississippi problem, it's a national problem, but I just think it's a disgrace that we have as poor a voter turnout as we do. Folks don't seem to understand that our government is only as good as the people demand."

Mississippi's highest voter turnout, for the presidential elections, usually tops just a little above 50 percent of registered voters. After that, the numbers drop embarrassingly fast. State elections, such as this year's, usually draw between 45 percent and 50 percent, and local elections barely scrabble up enough momentum to include 30 percent of voters. Clark estimates that only about 60 percent of the state's qualified residents are registered to vote in the first place; thus, a minority of eligible voters are making our decisions for us. "The numbers are very dismal," Clark said.

Reasons for low voter turnout vary. Some, like Clark, believe that younger generations, comfortable and lacking a motivator like the Vietnam War, aren't as politically driven as generations past. Others, like Mississippi State University Communications Department head Marian Huttenstine, describe younger generations as "too trusting of the government." They believe our leaders are going to do a good enough job without them, she says.

Low turnout among black Mississippians is a statistic that many find appalling. But Jackson author and political activist C. Liegh McInnis, 33, said he understands the abysmal voter turnout of registered Mississippi blacks. According to the Washingtonbased Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, only 34 percent of the state's black voters turned out for 1996 and 2000 presidential elections.

Blacks aren't excited about voting, McInnis said, because voting doesn't seem to do the black community any good. "The majority of black people have seen no benefit over the past 20 years from electing black officials. The state of Mississippi has more black officials than any other state in the union, yet we're still at a higher poverty rate than anybody else in the nation," McInnis said.

As an example, McInnis offered the School Safety Act of 2000, a "three-strikes-and-you're-out" law that he described as supported largely by white teachers who taught at schools that had turned majority black during their tenure. "The law allowed teachers to define what a 'bad' act was, so if you tell little Jimmie to sit down and Jimmie rolls his eyes, that could count as a bad act," he said. "That bill was hardest on black children, but that same bill came out of a committee that was chaired by [black Sen.] Alice Harden, [D-Jackson]," McInnis said.

The law does allow teachers to recommend students 13 and older for expulsion for something called "disruption"—an extremely controversial discipline clause that is derided by national education experts, particularly for its discriminatory potential. Russell Skiba of Indiana University, author of the study "The Color of Discipline," found that minority children have faced disproportionate expulsion and suspensions for decades, although they have no greater propensity to get in trouble than their white counterparts. The discrimination usually occurs at the point of referral, Skiba says, where teachers will more often decide to discipline students of color more harshly than whites. During the School Safety Act debate, the NAACP adamantly opposed the discipline act, but its message never connected; the bill passed and was signed by Gov. Ronnie Musgrove.

"Poor black people see this and they ask why they should take part in a system that doesn't work," McInnis added.

Still others believe low voter turnout comes down to cold, hard cash. Jackson Greens founder Landon Huey said that the biggest factor keeping voters at home is the influence campaign finance has on a candidate's political decisions.

"Voter turn-out is low across the nation because of the obvious corruption of the political system from corporate money," said Huey, the campaign manager for gubernatorial candidate Sherman Lee Dillon. A plank in the Green Party's platform is that it accepts no corporate campaign donations. "Special interests have been influencing our politicians for far too long. People know this, so they don't vote."

Campaign financing does come into question when candidates with well-established agendas suddenly break their program in favor of a decision that runs counter to their political record. In 2001, a nasty battle broke out when Musgrove vetoed a Corrections Department appropriations bill, claiming that it would lock the state into an expensive, unnecessary contract with private prison industries. The Legislature did not agree with him. The House voted 111-9 to override the budget veto, and the Senate voted 40-12, sending $6 million to fund private prison beds that were empty.

Oddly, the override was supported by Democrats who had voiced opposition to prison growth prior to the vote, such as Rep. George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg, chairman of the Juvenile Justice Committee. According to the National Institute on Money in State Politics, Flaggs received campaign contributions from Jackson lobbyists Buddy Medlin and Associates (who lobby for the prison company Corrections Corp. of America) in 1999. Flaggs later told a reporter that campaign money never influenced his decisions.

Maybe so. Musgrove himself had received $7,300 in campaign contributions from prison PACs in 1999, just before telling prison companies to take a hike—so there are exceptions to the rule. Still, the existence of generous lobbyists in the state capitol triggers suspicion in many voters.

Clark insists that a system of democracy is derailed when only a minority of voters participates, and added that pessimism is no excuse to flush your duties as an American. "Sure, I think there's too much money in elections. I think it costs too much money to run for office, but I don't think that relieves each citizen of the responsibility of voting," Clark said. "If folks aren't happy with their elected officials, then they need to get on the ball and elect some better ones."

In effect, you should still vote even if you think the system stinks and no one represents your interests. The question is … will you?
Adam Lynch is a reporter for the Mississippi Link and a guest political writer for the JFP.

[Correction: The spelling of the name of Rep. George Flaggs has been corrected above. It was mistakenly changed in copy editing in the print edition. We apologize for the error.]

Previous Comments

ID

77115

Comment

To me, one of the key problems with politics in Mississippi (and other places) is the attitude expressed in this sentence: "The majority of black people have seen no benefit over the past 20 years from electing black officials." It assumes that only black politicians can help the black population. The corollary to that is that only white politicians will help white people. Only women politicians can help women. And, I don't know who's going to be able to help the hispanics, asians and native americans in this state. We should be casting our votes based on a candidate's stand on issues, on their ability to get things done, and their qualifications for the job. We should not expect that only women politicians will help women, and that only black politicians will help blacks. It just doesn't work that way.

Author

Kate McNeel

Date

2003-07-30T15:54:41-06:00

ID

77116

Comment

I'm with you, Kate: I want to see Mississippians supporting and criticizing candidates regardless of race. (Personally, I believe in being an equal-opportunity critic; I'll certainly criticize or compliment someone regardless of the color of their skin, or ideology, based on the facts.) But the sad truth is that, at least to date, many Mississippians won't elect a black candidate to a statewide office. This year could be the first. I suspect once that kind of milestone is further behind us, it will get easier for more people to be colorblind.

Author

ladd

Date

2003-08-01T17:55:25-06:00

ID

77117

Comment

Interesting story that seems related somehow: From Insight on the News: "A meeting between George W. Bush and the Rev. Jesse Jackson after the president addressed the National Urban League in Pittsburgh on Monday has black Republicans roiling with anger and incomprehension. 'We are outraged that the people around the president would do such a thing,' said Niger Innis, spokesman for the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE). 'This amounts to aiding and abetting a hustler who has been exposed and is a total repudiation of people like my father, Roy Innis, who have been fighting for a positive cause for years.'" http://www.insightmag.com/news/449295.html

Author

ladd

Date

2003-08-01T18:15:03-06:00