Over 190 thousand voters have requested absentee ballots in MS

JACKSON, MISS. (WCBI) – We’re one week away from election day and Mississippi voters are already breaking records.

In a press conference earlier today, Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson stated that more than 190,000 voters have requested absentee ballots.

THat’s 80 thousand more requests than the 2016 election.

In addition, Mississippi registered 113,000 new voters this year.

Watson says even with the increase in absentee ballots, he still expects election day to be busy.

He says the state is working hard to make this election safe and fair.

“Let’s make sure the machines are wiped down, the tables are wiped down, the doors are wiped down, enforcing social distancing,” said Watson. “If it is a small precinct, you may have a situation where it’s one in, one out.”

Watson also stated that when voting, the machine is not online.

He says the ballot machine is not connected to the internet which means it cannot be hacked by an outside source.