#Mississippi election commissioner complains ‘the blacks’ are registering to vote

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The Jones County Courthouse in Ellisville, Mississippi.
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A Mississippi election commissioner sparked outrage after complaining on social media that black residents in the state were holding lots of voter registration events, a report said.

The commissioner, Gail Welch of Jones County, wrote the comment on Facebook last week — just as state legislators had approved a measure to remove a confederate symbol from the state flag, the Clarion Ledger reported.

“I’m concerned about voter registration in Mississippi,” Welch wrote in the Facebook post, according to the report.

“The blacks are having lots (of) events for voter registration. People in Mississippi have to get involved, too,” she added.

The state senator whose district includes parts of Jones County told the newspaper that the statement raises credibility questions about Welch’s office.

“With people saying that kind of stuff, it makes them question, if this person is over the election, are they really going to run this?” Sen. Juan Barnett told the newspaper.

“Are they really going to do what they say they’re going to do? It puts that office that you’re holding … now there’s some credibility issues with that office. Not necessarily with you, but in that office,” he added.

Welch told the newspaper it wasn’t her intention to appear racist.

“We’ve always in the past had whites really participating in registering to vote. So many people don’t seem to be concerned about (voting),” she said.