Mississippi prepares to tackle any voter fraud ahead of presidential election

Following the 2020 presidential election, many people raised concerns about the integrity of the election process.

There was a surge in election legislation introduced after the 2020 presidential election.

According to a report from Voting Rights Lab – which tracked election legislation – 39 states enacted new laws related to mail-in voting.

Another survey conducted by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs found that less than half of Americans — 44% — are confident in the election process.

We are getting ready for another big election year, and a lot can change in four years.

Mississippi is one state that has seen a change in how it handles elections. As we head into another presidential election year, the secretary of state is working to give the public their confidence back when heading to the polls.

WXXV spoke with Secretary of State Michael Watson about how the office is crossing their t’s and dotting their i’s this election.

“It’s much less today, not that it was large four years ago,” Watson began. “I think when people say there is no such thing as voting fraud, they’re lying to you.”

While rare, voter fraud does happen. It’s not a widespread issue in Mississippi, but it is something the legislature and secretary of state have cracked down on since 2020.

“It’s finding those simple instances where it may just be one or two votes. Unfortunately, sometimes we look at the federal level and say one or two votes don’t matter,” Watson said. “One or two votes really does matter when you’re talking about a city election, a school board election, those elections that are really close to the people that can impact your lives much more quickly. So, one vote. Doesn’t matter what it is. That’s one too many.”

Mail-in ballots have actually decreased since 2023, and counties now decide what works best on voting day.

“I think you’re going to see a continued focus on election day. There’s some chatter in the legislature right now to look at a couple of different ways to vote. So, we’ll see what happens over there.”

Small changes have been made to protect your vote on election days, and as we head into presidential elections, your vote will be tracked from the moment you walk into the polls.

Watson said, “In all 82 counties, by November, they have to have what we refer to as a paper verifiable trail. So, you’ll go in and you’ll vote. You’ll get to see how you marked your ballot. The ballot will then go into a scanner which will count it. At the end of the day, if there’s any questions, we always have that paper ballot to go back and look.”

You can learn more about voting by visiting sos.ms.gov/yall-vote.