Mississippi residents will vote later this year against Jim Crow-era provisions that were to dilute black voting power, the Associated Press reported Saturday.
The vote follows the state’s decision to remove its Confederate-themed state flag late last month.
The state faces increased pressure from lawsuits and the possibility of action being taken in federal court, prompting lawmakers to include a state constitutional amendment on the November ballot that it would make changes, including the elimination of an Electoral College-type provision from Mississippi’s 1980 constitution, simplifying state elections.
According to the AP, Mississippi is the only state that exhibits this type of system for state elections.
If the amendment is adopted, the state candidates who receive the majority vote will win their election. If no one wins the popular vote in an election of three or more, the top two candidates will enter a runoff.
The Mississippi state constitution dictates that any state candidate must win the majority of the popular vote and the majority of the state electoral vote. An electoral vote is offered to the candidate who receives the most support in each of the 122 state districts of the House.
However, if a candidate does not win the popular vote and the electoral vote, the race is decided by the State Chamber. Representatives are not required to vote for the same candidate as the districts.
The constitutional provision promoted a system in which the ruling class once had the last word in which the candidate held office, according to the AP.
Federal District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III wrote in November that he had “great concern” about the constitutionality of the electoral vote provision. Jordan said the plaintiffs’ argument about one person’s infringement, one vote, is “possibly … their strongest claim” in challenging the provision.
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