Mississippi should restore the voting rights of former felons, Democratic candidates say

BY EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Democratic nominees for two statewide offices are saying that Mississippi should stop defending a Jim Crow-era portion of its state constitution that permanently strips voting rights from people convicted of certain felonies. Greta Kemp Martin faces first-term Republican Attorney General Lynn Fitch and Ty Pinkins faces first-term Republican Secretary of State Michael Watson in the Nov. 7 election. Kemp Martin and Pinkins have said Thursday in Vicksburg that people who served their sentences should regain the right to vote. A panel of a federal appeals court ruled last month that Mississippi’s permanent disenfranchisement is cruel and unusual punishment. Fitch is asking the full appeals court to reconsider that ruling.