Election commissioner complains ‘the blacks’ are registering to vote

A Mississippi election commissioner sparked outrage after complaining on social media that black inhabitants in the point out had been keeping loads of voter registration situations, a report claimed.

The commissioner, Gail Welch of Jones County, wrote the remark on Facebook very last 7 days — just as point out legislators experienced authorised a evaluate to clear away a accomplice image from the state flag, the Clarion Ledger described.

“I’m anxious about voter registration in Mississippi,” Welch wrote in the Facebook publish, according to the report.

“The blacks are possessing lots (of) gatherings for voter registration. Persons in Mississippi have to get included, as well,” she included.

The point out senator whose district contains parts of Jones County advised the newspaper that the statement raises credibility issues about Welch’s place of work.

“With persons expressing that type of stuff, it tends to make them query, if this particular person is about the election, are they seriously going to run this?” Sen. Juan Barnett told the newspaper.

“Are they truly going to do what they say they’re likely to do? It places that workplace that you are holding … now there’s some trustworthiness difficulties with that business office. Not essentially with you, but in that office environment,” he additional.

Welch advised the newspaper it wasn’t her intention to look racist.

“We’ve often in the previous had whites actually collaborating in registering to vote. So several individuals never appear to be concerned about (voting),” she mentioned.