Accessibility

Activate, Mississippi

What Is Activate, Mississippi?

The SPLC’s Activate Mississippi initiative is the umbrella initiative by which we seek to bridge the worlds of arts, activism and voter education. Activate Mississippi applies a cultural approach to civic engagement and community. The initiative provides real-time information to assist voters and other community stakeholders in key decision making. We do this by working with the community stakeholders and experts to host discussion tables, town halls, public awareness campaigns and any other necessary and niche activities to meet and service the needs of the community.

To further the work of the initiative, we have elected to launch a voter engagement and awareness comic book, Defenders of Democracy, to serve as an education tool to inform voters of the recent changes to legislation and to alert them of any potential challenges they may experience when going to vote. The comic book will serve as an anchor in the overall Defenders of Democracy campaign, which connects to our partners and other helpful resources as we enter into the Mississippi election cycle.

About the Defenders of Democracy Campaign

The Defenders of Democracy Campaign is a multifaceted campaign that introduces teens and college students to the multiple layers of civic engagement. The campaign focuses on voter education, volunteerism, organization and mobilization. The campaign provides an opportunity for youth and young adult engagement through our:

  • Defenders of Democracy Challenge Coin Design Contest
    • In partnership with the Mississippi School of the Arts and MS Votes, the Mississippi Office of the Southern Poverty Law Center seeks to engage high school art and design students in our Defenders of Democracy Challenge Coin design contest.
  • Defenders of Democracy Campus Activation Conversation Series
    • The Defenders of Democracy Campus Conversation series engages students on college campuses throughout Mississippi. Each event will be held in collaboration with a campus partner organization and will consist of an on-campus activation and voter education panel.
  • Defenders of Democracy Volunteer Recruitment Program
    • Using strategic activations across the state, we will use these events as volunteer recruitment programs to help support the efforts of our partners across the state.

Voters cast ballots at booths
Voters cast their ballots at at a Madison, Mississippi, precinct. (Credit: Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press)

What You Need to Know About Policy That May Impact Your Participation

This past legislative session, the Mississippi State Legislature passed several pieces of legislation to further erode voting rights in the state of Mississippi. Among these pieces of legislation was a bill that specifically targeted voter registration.

Here’s a look into how the bill undermines democracy and weakens the voting rights of Mississippians:

Voter registration and citizenship check

House Bill 1310 expands on a law from last session mandating a voter’s registration be checked against the Mississippi Department of Public Safety and the USCIS database. Under the revised law, a voter flagged by a citizenship check will be:

  • Removed from the voter rolls and placed on inactive status in the Statewide Election Management System.
  • Forced to vote via affidavit in elections.
  • Sent a “confirmation notice” from their respective election officials to which they must provide proof of citizenship to said official to regain active status on the voter rolls.

Why is this a problem?

Should a registered voter fail to verify their registration with the enumerated statutory documents within 30 days, they will be removed from the voter roll. The bill also creates Mississippi Code §23-15-152, which mandates the same removal process for anyone who misses two federal elections or three statewide elections. This removal is also triggered if the USPS reports a change of address, or if election officials receive “reliable information” [1] a voter has moved from their registered address. Should the affected voters fail to reply to the confirmation notice, they will be forced to vote via affidavit until they provide proof of residency.

What you can do

College activation events

Join us at one of our college activations stops to hear how you can become a Defender of Democracy. 

Aug. 30, 2023

Tougaloo College
Jackson, Mississippi
Campus polling location: Owens Health & Wellness Center

  • 11 a.m.-1 p.m.: Defenders of Democracy – Hype up the vote
  • 6 p.m.- 8 p.m.: Defenders of Democracy – Town Hall Community Conversation

Sept. 6

Mississippi Valley State University
Itta Bena, Mississippi
Campus polling location: William Butts Social Science Building

  • 11 a.m.-1 p.m.: Defenders of Democracy – Hype up the vote
  • 6 p.m.- 8 p.m.: Defenders of Democracy – Town Hall Community Conversation

Sept. 12

Alcorn State University
Lorman, Mississippi
Campus polling location: Davey L. Whitney HPER Complex

  • 11 a.m.-1 p.m.: Defenders of Democracy – Hype up the vote
  • 6 p.m.-8 p.m.: Defenders of Democracy – Town Hall Community Conversation

Sept. 19

Rust College
Holly Springs, Mississippi
Campus polling location: Multi-purpose Building, 235 N. Memphis St.

  • 11 a.m.-1 p.m.: Defenders of Democracy – Hype up the vote
  • 6 p.m.-8 p.m.: Defenders of Democracy – Town Hall Community Conversation

Sept. 25

University of Southern Mississippi
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Campus polling location: Center for Community Engagement

  • 11 a.m.-1 p.m.: Defenders of Democracy – Hype up the vote
  • 6 p.m.-8 p.m.: Defenders of Democracy – Town Hall Community Conversation

Resources

Illustration at top by SPLC

[1] “Reliable information includes, but is not limited to: official mail returned as undeliverable by the county election commission, registrar or other county or municipal office, Secretary of State; application for homestead exemption filed by the voter at an address other than the address of current registration; or any information from another state or county entity indicating the voter no longer resides at the address of voter registration.”