Based on absentee ballots, Mississippi on pace for very high turnout tomorrow

This morning the Secretary of State’s office announced that 58,070 absentee ballots had been requested by voting Mississippians for the November 5 General Election. A total of 51,318 absentee ballots have been received back to the Circuit Clerks’ offices.

More than 1.9 million Mississippians are registered to vote in the upcoming election.  Census data estimates the State’s eligible voting age population to be about 2.2 million.

In an article Y’all Politics ran last week, we used the 2018 runoffs as a reference point,  in which there were 43,000 absentee ballots requested which correlated to 812,956 votes.  Just a day before the election, and based on the new numbers, voter turnout could exceed 900,000 votes. That would put voter turnout above the numbers seen during the Barbour/Musgrove election in 2003, which was the last truly competitive gubernatorial contest in Mississippi.

Circuit Clerks’ Offices must be in receipt of absentee ballots returned by mail by 5 p.m. today. For military and overseas voters, absentee ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 5.

Polls are open on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.  Any voter in line at 7 p.m. is entitled to cast a ballot.  Voters can find their polling place and a sample ballot by visiting the Secretary of State’s Polling Place Locator.

For more information about State election laws or Election Day information, visit Y’all Vote, www.yallvote.sos.ms.gov, or call the Elections Division Hotline at (601) 576-2550 or 1-800-829-6786.

Absentee County by County Breakdown_Nov 4, 2019_8am by yallpolitics on Scribd