News

Hattiesburg election review finds ballot problems

HATTIESBURG, Mississippi (AP) — A report by Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann found 10 percent of absentee ballots were incorrectly accepted or rejected in Hattiesburg’s special mayoral election in September. The Hattiesburg American reports that […]

News

Indianola police officer fired for choking man

The City Council has voted to fire a police officer amid allegations that he acted inappropriately in the line of duty.

WXVT reports the council took the action on Tuesday, Aug. 13, against Officer Scott Hagerman. He had been on the force for 2 years.

City officials say the firing was tied to allegations that Hagerman choked a man who arrived at an accident scene to check on his grandmother and that he pushed the woman into a car.
[…]

News

Miss. voter ID law expected to be used by 2014

Mississippi voters could have to start showing photo identification at the polls by the June 2014 federal primaries, Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said last week after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that certain state and local governments no longer need federal approval to change their own election laws or procedures.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 has required Mississippi and other areas with a history of racial discrimination, mainly in the South, to get clearance for changes as large as implementing a voter ID law to as small as relocating a precinct.

In a 5-4 ruling, justices blocked enforcement of a provision in the 1965 Voting Rights Act that requires Mississippi and several other state and local governments to get federal approval before making any changes to voting laws or procedures. Preclearance has been required in areas with a history of racial discrimination, mainly in the South. […]