The Hinds County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 Monday to rescind a Feb. 5 proposal that would have merged or closed up to 10 voting precincts in the heavily Black populated 3rd and 4th districts.
Supervisors Robert Graham, Tony Smith, and Wanda Evers of districts 1, 2, and 4, respectively, cast the majority vote that rescinded merging or closing those precincts. Five of those precincts were scheduled to be reassigned to Black’s Chapel, which already has precinct 52 in District 3 under Supervisor Deborah Butler Dixon, who initially sponsored the move that had been seconded by Evers.
Pete Perry, former chair of the Hinds County Republican executive committee, presented a list of proposed changes at the Feb. 5 regular board meeting. Perry called for merging Precincts 54, 55, 56, and 57 with Precinct 62; merging 60 and 61 with Precinct 21; merging 73 and 69; and merging Precinct 74 with Precinct 92. Those changes were put on hold until a final vote by the supervisors on April 1.
Perry claimed that the county would save a great deal of money by reducing the number of the precincts.
Hinds County Democratic Party leaders called the proposed closings a Republican ploy to restrict Black voter access to the polls.
Former District 3 Supervisor Peggy Hobson Calhoun said Black’s Chapel would be unable to accommodate the more than 5,000 voters expected on election day.
“There are all kinds of ramifications when you have 5,600 active voters trying to get onto and off of a major thoroughfare, which is Robinson Road, and into a parking lot that will not accommodate a whole lot of vehicles,” she said.
With only six paid poll workers at the massive single precinct, chaos was sure to be the result, Hobson Calhoun said. She recalled the 2023 general election where some precincts ran out of ballots, causing a great embarrassment legal problems for county officials.
State Representative Zakiya Summers, whose House district 68 contains the largest number of the affected precincts, said, “We should make it easier for people to vote, and not harder. These moves coming so close to the elections could easily confuse and discourage voters,” she said.
Summers announced Tuesday that she supported the board’s decision, thanking the voters “for exercising their advocacy, raising their voices, giving concern to the cause, and remaining steadfast.
“Voter suppression is committed in different forms,” Summers said. “When precincts are closed, it not only causes an undue burden on seniors, voters with disabilities, and voters without transportation, but also congests polling locations with long lines, creates confusion, and costs voters. As Former President Barack Obama encouraged, we should always stand committed to making it easier to vote, not harder.
Evers said at the board’s April 1 meeting that she had not gotten enough information on the impact that such a major shift in the precincts would have on the voters of her district.
In response to questions about a complaint from Butler Dixon, who voted in the minority with District 5’s Bob McGowan in Monday’s vote, Evers said these kinds of complaints are expected from people serving in public office.
“We’re going to have our differences, but we have to understand that we have to respect each other’s differences,” Evers said. “If I make a decision, they should respect it. If they make a decision, I respect it.”
Hinds Democratic Executive Committee chair Jacquie Amos said she has seen similar tactics to place obstacles in the way of Black voters over the years.
“This is something that has been brought to the table and tried on many occasions for several years by Jackson Republicans,” Amos said. “My stance has always been the same: Why are they so interested in closing and merging precincts in the Black community? And why has there never been a conversation regarding merging the precincts east of I-55?” The areas of northeast Jackson beyond I-55 are heavily Caucasian.
Monday’s vote to rescind the precinct closings and mergers, however, won’t be the final action taken by the supervisors on this matter. Redistricting is required by law after every census. Noticeable population shifts or a severe imbalance of numbers among the five supervisorial districts between censuses may also call for redistricting.