Mississippians now have quicker access to their voter registration information. As MPB's Ezra Wall reports, the Secretary of State's "Y'all Vote" website is getting an upgrade.
Voters across the state can now check their current voter registration status and find their polling place online. Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann is adding the functions to the "Y'all Vote" section of his website, which already allows Mississippians to electronically change their address. Hosemann says it's a response to election day requests from voters.
"Our staff does a great job and we keep a log of what people ask," says Hosemann. "The biggest question was 'am I registered to vote' and 'where do I go vote.' And so we've made that easy for everybody now, it's online."
Governor Phil Bryant recalls a time when voter registration came at a great sacrifice to some.
"When I was a very young child, people put their lives at risk registering to vote," says Bryant. "Lives were taken; intimidation stopped people from registering to vote. Simply trying to register people to vote in the state of Mississippi could cost you your life."
First-time online registrations are still prohibited in Mississippi. For that, voters have to visit their county clerk or mail a registration form. Hosemann says he has security concerns about any possible online registration process.
"I don't see us changing that right away," says Hosemann. "I don't see the security being sufficient; I just have concerns that I expressed today to others that we shouldn't go to registration online. We're just not ready yet."
Voters can access the upgraded site at www.yallvote.sos.ms.gov.
