Mississippi Secretary of State encourages people to register to vote
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Primary elections are on the horizon and then we kick things into full gear for the November elections.
Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson brought his message to the Columbus Rotary Club.
He encouraged others to make sure their registrations were up to par. He also wanted to make sure everyone was informed.
Judicial and senate candidates, not just presidential, will be on voter’s ballots this year.
A hot-button issue Watson discussed with WCBI was the political action committee contributions.
“We saw in the ’23 election, there was PAC to PAC contributions that basically individuals sometimes used these PACs to wash these contributions so you can’t find where they came from. We saw about $10 million last year flow through PACs in Mississippi. I think that’s a bad thing for accountability. So, we’ve banned the PAC to PACs. There are what we call legacy funds. Basically back in 2018 when the campaign finance laws were adjusted last time, candidates were allowed to keep their old money. Any contributions they receive prior to 2018, they can take them home. The biggest account is $1.9 million and again these are funds that people have for campaign purposes -not for you to retire on,” said Watson.
The Mississippi Primary election is on March 12 and March 5 in Alabama.
You can go to www.sos.ms.gov/elections-voting for more information.