Mississippi primaries: the aftermath; [June 1966?]

              Mississippi primaries: the aftermath
Transcript

MISSISSIPPI FREEDOM DEMOCRATIC PARTY
802 "G" Street, S.E.
Washington, D.C., 20003
Tel: (202) 546-4450

ELECTION DAY

Since "Emancipation", the first sizeable balloting by Negro Mississippians in a statewide primary, took place on 7 June - the day after James Meredith was bushwhacked on a road near Hernando, Mississippi. This cannot be construed as an isolated event. Rather, it is one in a series of warnings by a desperate Mississippi political power structure that the State of Mississippi still intends to enforce its 100-year old policy of barring Negroes from the polls. Despite fear of brutal reprisals - characterized by the cowardly assassination attempt on Meredith - and despite numerous irregularities at the polls, approximately 55,000 Negroes cast their ballots on 7 June. Although James Eastland was credited with renomination, Clifton Whitely, the MFDP-endorsed Democratic candidate for the Senate, out-polled Eastland in some Mississippi counties. We are sorry not to be able to give exact details on this last statement, but this is due to the incompleteness of the information released by the state and the difficulty of accurate interpretation of the facts.

After hearing of the shooting of Meredith, MFDP candidates pointed out on the eve of the primaries that the most effective way to uphold the principles for which Meredith was marching, would be to turn out in large numbers at the polls the next day. However, MFDP attorneys by wire, motioned the Federal courts to stay the primaries because of the possible adverse effects of the Meredith assassination attempt. This was denied by the courts. MFDP members stood watch in many of the polls in the state despite attempts of election officials in at least six counties to bar these poll watchers from the voting premises. Among other problems encountered at the polls were the presence of armed sheriffs and deputy sheriffs at the polls; many registered Negroes were not on the voting lists of the election clerks; despite a state voting regulation that requires persons standing in line a the time of closing be permitted to vote, this was completely ignored (in fact, there are reports that whites were pulled from the line and permitted to vote at this time after which the polls were closed: thus again denying the rights of Negroes to vote). The election day efforts of MFDP were complemented by poll watchers from LOWNDES COUNTY FREEDOM ORGANIZATION, NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES, NATIONAL STUDENT ASSOCIATION, THE NORTHERN STUDENT MOVEMENT, CORE, and the STUDENT NONVIOLENT COORDINATING COMMITTEE workers of Mississippi. A delegation of seven congressmen was also on hand to observe the balloting.

STATEWIDE PROGRAM

The MFDP, heartened by the large turnout despite the intimidations and other election irregularities, has announced that candidates will be running in the general elections in November as independents. Coupled with these campaigns will be a massive voter registration drive already underway in conjunction with the continuation of Meredith's march to Jackson.

SUNFLOWER PROGNOSIS

As a result of the organizing effort in the town of Sunflower, approximately 80% of the Negroes registered there went to the polls to cast their vote. The responsibility for getting out the voters lay entirely in the hands of the block captains of the town, since fact that a great deal of the Negroes had been placed on incorrect books by the registrar, and that MFDP poll watchers were barred from the polling places. The turnout in the other towns of Sunflower County ranged from 64 to 80%.