By Christopher Young,
Contributing Writer,
A solid one hundred people rallied under the leadership of the Poor People’s Campaign, Repairers of the Breach, and Mississippi Black Voters Matter on Thurs., Oct. 8, 2026, at 11 a.m., to march up Pascagoula Street from the Jackson Convention Center to the Hinds County Circuit Clerk’s Office and right in the door to vote absentee in-person, ahead of the Nov. 3, 2026, elections.
Energy, enthusiasm, and determination filled the streets as part of Reverend Dr. William J. Barber, II’s call for 1000 Marches to the Polls to mobilize voter support. The marches are nationwide, non-violent, and non-partisan. The goal is 1000 marches in 100 days, starting from July 27, 2026, to November 3, 2026.
Organizers Danielle Holmes of Mississippi Poor People’s Campaign and Repairers of the Breach and Carol Blackmon, Mississippi State Director of Black Voters Matter, joined forces and provided leadership for the march where citizens of Hinds County exercised their right to vote. They are keenly aware that we need to continue to build on the 2020 national voter turnout, which was the highest in a century, despite 90 million eligible voters staying home.
This initiative emphasizes that “across the South, if just 15-20 percent more of our poor and low-wage brothers and sisters who have not voted regularly came out, they could fundamentally shift the power, purpose, and potential of our elections.” The shift is significant, away from marching in the streets for issues, but rather to march straight to the polls.
Blackmon stated, just outside the Clerk’s Office, “I’m just so happy that people know that this is the time to demonstrate their voice in democracy and that we all need to be out here voting and tell everybody else we know to come to vote as well. I think this process for absentee in-person, where we are using the machine rather than the envelopes – where people wouldn’t always get their signature correct – is a much better process.”
It would be difficult to find a more experienced Circuit Clerk than Hinds County’s Zach Wallace. He has served as Clerk for over ten years and held other positions in the office for eighteen years prior. When asked by this writer about the reported backlog of voter registrations that his office is seeing, he shared, “we have had so many voter registration drives, and a lot of people drop them off on the deadline. We have so many and some from a month ago and people are concerned that they do not have a voter card yet.” He asked for patience. He was asked if his concern is limited to the volume of applications versus the amount of resources to process the applications.
Wallace responded, “It’s the amount and the actual data that’s on the application. I have a great staff, they plan on working on Saturday, which is not required but I plan to pay them overtime so we can get through them all. We have a lot of applications that are not filled out completely. Some just have a printed name and a signature, no address, no contact information, so those will be set to the side – we really can’t do anything with them. When people do voter drives, they need to turn the information in as soon as possible, so we can process them. A deadline is a deadline, but that also means things happening at the last minute.”
Jo Ella Kelly was beaming as she exhaled after casting her ballot and took a seat to take it all in. “I still do what I’m supposed to do, but guess what, I’m supposed to be having knee surgery and shoulder surgery, but I refuse to let ya’ll down.” When asked what it was like to be here today with the marchers and voting, she said, “I love it. I thank God for today. It makes me so I don’t have to worry now while I’m out there working. My voting is done. I love working with Miss Danielle and the other groups, just love it. It’s behind me now, I don’t have to worry.”
The success of this event, and every other step that is taken to ensure eligible voters the right to cast their vote, becomes highly significant. Efforts to undermine the right to vote have surged in states under Republican leadership, especially after President Trump falsely claimed widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election when he lost to President Biden. Years later, Trump has never let up, and his base, which certainly includes the majority white and Republican Mississippi legislature, does whatever they can to marginalize voters who don’t look and act like them.
Mississippi’s SHEILD Act took effect on July 1, 2026, and focuses on voter registration. It is an effort to mimic parts of the national SAVE Act that has not been passed by the US Senate. Voter identification is critical for registration, but also at the polls. For most, having a Mississippi Driver’s License with the Real Id Gold Star, will serve you well on Election Day. Birth Certificates and Passports can also be used as voter identification. In the event there is a question about your status or eligibility, it is your right under federal law to cast your vote by “Affidavit Ballot.”
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