By Jackie Hampton,
Publisher,
Mississippi U. S. Senate candidate Attorney Scott Colom, along with Congressman Bennie Thompson (D) 2nd District and U. S. Senator Angela Alsobrooks – Democrat from Maryland, participated in a Town Hall Voting Rights conversation held in the historical district of Farish Street in Jackson, MS, at Farish Street Baptist Church.
The Town Hall was held Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. The sitting congresspersons were joined by Executive Director Charles Taylor Jr., of the Mississippi State Conference NAACP.
Theresa Kennedy, political director for Scott Colom’s Campaign, greeted those in attendance and asked Rev. Eric Williams, pastor of Farish Street Church, if he would offer a prayer. After the prayer, Kennedy offered a few remarks, stated, “Our right to vote … is our right to protect it, and Mississippi has always been at the center of that fight.”
In his opening remarks, Colom stated that many of his values – such as “truth, justice and putting people first,” were passed down to him by his parents. He added that those values were particularly important to him in doing his job as a prosecutor.
Colom expressed many concerns regarding issues Mississippians are facing, such as the cost of health care. He shared that according to the Republican health care commissioner, 400,000 Mississippians do not have health insurance and probably by next year, another 100,000 will lose their insurance.
He emphasized citizens are being betrayed because certain leaders continue to put politics over people, adding, “Real leadership is about people and making sure the voters are heard.”
Thompson encouraged those present to do whatever is required to get friends, family, church members, co-workers, and others energized for the November election.
Alsobrooks, in her remarks stated that she was in Mississippi because of the “Super Candidate,” Scott Colom. “I came all the way to Mississippi because I know we can win in Mississippi,” she added.
Taylor then thanked Senator Alsobrooks for being in Jackson and for her support of candidate Scott Colum. He further expressed his appreciation for Congressman Thompson and his leadership as Chairman of the House Select Committee investigating the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, which he said probably resulted in many sleepless nights for the Congressman and many death threats.
After these opening remarks, Kennedy spearheaded the conversation by posing several questions to the panel. One question was what should voters do as they prepare for the November election? Candidate Colom said voters should first check their registration status to make sure they were still on the voter rolls and to check their precinct in case they have been moved.
Congressman Thompson in furthering that point stated that the Secretary of State had spent $50,000 just to run every registered voter’s name. After which he sent each county a list of people who showed up with names different than on the voter registration roll. The problem, Thompson explained, is some of our election commissioners started taking people off the roll because the Secretary of State said to do so. He added that this is not how the process work.
Alsobrooks remarked that she had filed a piece of legislation to prevent deceptive practices and to make it illegal to confuse voters, but in order for this type of legislation to pass, it is important that democrats win back the majority.
Taylor responded to a question regarding “why some people believe their vote does not count and therefore do not vote?” His response was to cite several close races that could have been won in Mississippi if more registered voters actually cast their votes.
He said in order to get registered voters to believe their vote counts, candidates and campaign workers must knock on more doors and send out more mail regarding the importance of voting.
Congressman Thompson said more people need to register to vote and that churches, sororities, fraternities, and other organizations need to become a committee of one and not only help get people registered to vote but also encourage them to go to the polls and vote in the upcoming election.
The Congressman added, “We have to make it a crusade and not just a campaign in order to win.”
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