Municipal

Votebeat

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A Mississippi county moved more voters to inactive in the leadup to Election Day than any other. Here’s what happened.

This story was published by Votebeat in partnership with Mississippi Today. Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration. Mississippi Today is a nonprofit newsroom dedicated to covering justice, voting rights, politics, education, health and culture. Sign up for Votebeat’s free newsletters here and Mississippi Today’s free newsletters here . HERNANDO, Miss. – Dozens of people crowded into the old Trustmark Bank building in downtown on Wednesday afternoon to watch DeSoto County’s election officials pore over bins of ballots in a longtime Republican stronghold key to the political earthquake that has rattled Mississippi. DeSoto, a Memphis suburb just below the Mississippi border, has been solid Trump country . Until now. A jolt of Democratic enthusiasm and a slump in Republican voters appears to have delivered DeSoto County for Democrat Scott Colom, the Mississippi district attorney declared the winner Wednesday night over GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith. DeSoto’s proximity to Memphis has established the county as a bright spot locally. It’s a center of economic development in America’s poorest state and the fastest-growing county amid statewide population decline, attracting Memphis suburbanites and Elon Musk-backed data centers alike. But the county has drawn an uncomfortable spotlight since last

Desoto County, MS · 11h