Next month’s election has been called the most important in recent history, and residents of Starkville and Oktibbeha County are increasingly aware of it as more and more of them register to vote, Oktibbeha County NAACP President Yulanda Haddix said.
“I’ve met (these) people downtown; I’ve met them in restaurants; I’ve met them in stores,” Haddix said. “It has been phenomenal, and people really want to be a part of this process.”
The Oktibbeha County NAACP organized and hosted a town hall event Friday that drew about 100 people to Fire Station Park in Starkville. Attendees were required to wear protective face coverings and stay a safe distance apart due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
While the event also served as a campaign stop for Mike Espy, the Democratic candidate running to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, local officials and event organizers also encouraged the crowd to register and vote in the local, state and national elections on Nov. 3. The NAACP provided registration applications, sample ballots and a voting machine for people to learn how to use.
The voter registration deadline is 5 p.m. Monday. The Oktibbeha County NAACP has been dropping off applications for people to fill out at stores and shops throughout Starkville and will pick them up Monday to drop them off at the circuit courthouse by 4:45, Haddix said.
Both Espy and Hyde-Smith were invited to the event, but Haddix said Hyde-Smith’s campaign never responded to the invitation. The NAACP is a bipartisan organization that does not promote specific candidates but does encourage everyone to vote, she said.
“If you have a voice, you must vote, because your vote is your voice,” she said.
Several young people who are eligible to vote for the first time have been registering, and people have also been signing up to drive their fellow citizens to and from the polls on Election Day, Haddix said.
Her fellow NAACP chapter presidents Lavonne Latham Harris of Lowndes County and Deloria Stewart of Noxubee County told the crowd to spread the message.
“If you know somebody who is not registered to vote, please go and talk to them over the weekend,” Harris said.
Stewart said educating people on how to vote safely during the pandemic is especially crucial.
“COVID-19 brought on a change for us, but legislators and the Democratic Party came together and made it so you still can vote,” she said. “We don’t want you to stay at home (and not vote) because of COVID.”
‘Trust the process’
Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill and State Rep. Cheikh Taylor (D-Starkville) delivered introductory remarks before Espy spoke to the crowd.
“The event of a town hall meeting, where you get to talk to candidates, meet them, listen to them and ask questions, is so vital to our entire process,” Spruill said.
Taylor said Espy’s career inspired him to go into politics. Espy represented Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1987 to 1993 and then became the first Black U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, from 1993 to 1994.
Even though Starkville is a Democrat-leaning area, Espy came to make it clear that he is running to represent all Mississippians, he said. He has held a few in-person and several virtual town hall meetings while campaigning, and he said he will continue to do so if he is elected. Audience members asked Espy what he would do in office to bring about criminal justice reform, promote Black-owned businesses and bring broadband internet access to rural areas.
District Attorney Scott Colom could not attend Friday’s event, so Assistant District Attorney Trina Davidson-Brooks spoke on his behalf. She said she heard several people say after Tuesday’s presidential debate that they did not want to vote.
“What I tell people is that you have to trust the process, because when you trust the process, you participate in the process,” Davidson-Brooks said.
Percy Lynchard, a 3rd District Chancery Judge running for a seat on the Mississippi Supreme Court, also spoke at the event and asked for support.
Espy told The Dispatch after the event that he has seen a great deal of enthusiasm for voting and political engagement from Mississippians as he has campaigned over the last several months. The state Legislature’s decision to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the state flag resonated with the public, he said. A new design for the flag is on next month’s ballot.
“I think it’s infused most people with a sense of energy, and they have a great appreciation for the future, because that symbol that was divisive and ugly is now down,” Espy said.
Tess Vrbin was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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