Secretary Watson Visits Clarksdale

SECRETARY OF STATE MICHAEL WATSON HELD A MEET

AND GREET WITH COAHOMA COUNTY'S CIRCUIT CLERK

AND ELECTION COMMISSIONERS.

KAREN WILLIAMS HAS THE STORY.

"Secretary of State Michael Watson's 82-county Tour made a stop at the

Coahoma County Courthouse, Tuesday. The Secretary of State  met with

both election commissioners and the circuit clerk to thank them for their tireless

work, answer questions and concerns. Watson also discussed various improvements

to the election process."

"We"ve got a major job on our hands. I looked at the numbers just last week and they were

41 of 82 counties that were 90 percent or above, said Secretary Watson. You guys are right around 90, I think if I

remember correctly. And so part of this is again that relationship that building process. How

do we get better?  Is there something that we can do to help you guys, is it something we

need to talk through the process of how do we make it better? We got some legislation

pending right now it came out in the Senate it's going to the House dealing with the Ohio

system and how they did it."

"Several years ago, Ohio had an additional triggering event. It was the lack of voting in a

certain number of elections in a row. Ohio has elections every single year. So if you missed

two elections in a row, the triggering event signals a confirmation process would kick in. And

it got challenged in the Supreme Court. It was a 5 to 4 decision that came down saying that it

was illegal as long as not voting and something else. So not returning your confirmation card,

not updating your registration information and not voting. So that's what we are looking at. It's

actually not codified in Mississippi. We'll be putting that whole process in the Code."

"Secretary Watson stressed that although at times the job can be thankless, he is very appreciative

of the hard work that's performed by all parties. For him he states that he is learning the information

flow and process and keeping the voter rolls current, in addition to following the rules set forth by the

federal government."

In Clarksdale, I'm Karen Williams reporting.