Freedom Vote: Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox civil conflict|place=Mississippi|title=1963 Freedom Ballot|date=October |
{{Infobox civil conflict|place=Mississippi|title=1963 Freedom Ballot|date=October 6, 1963-November 5, 1963|causes=Only 5.9% of Mississippi blacks were registered to vote|goals=Combat disenfranchisement of African-Americans in Mississippi|methods=Mock-Election|result=78,869 Ballots Submitted |
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[[Freedom Summer]] |
[[Freedom Summer]] |
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[[MFDP]] Established}} |
[[MFDP]] Established}} |
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Revision as of 06:34, 27 May 2019
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| 1963 Freedom Ballot | |
|---|---|
| Date | October 6, 1963-November 5, 1963 |
| Location | Mississippi |
| Caused by | Only 5.9% of Mississippi blacks were registered to vote |
| Goals | Combat disenfranchisement of African-Americans in Mississippi |
| Methods | Mock-Election |
| Resulted in | 78,869 Ballots Submitted MFDP Established |
The 1963 Freedom Ballot (also known as the Mississippi Freedom Ballot or simply Freedom Vote) was a mock-election organized in the United States to combat the disenfranchisement of blacks in Mississippi.
The effort was organized by the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO), a coalition of Mississippi's four most prominent civil rights organizations, with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) taking a leading role. By the end of the campaign, some 78,000 Mississippians had participated.[1] The Freedom Ballot directly led to the creation of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP).
Background
In addition to a poll tax, the Mississippi voting registration procedure in 1963 required Mississippians to fill out a 21-question registration form and to answer, to the satisfaction of the registrars, a question on the interpretation of any one of 285 sections of the state constitution.[2] Such requirements unfairly restricted blacks and poor whites, who often didn't have access to proper education and couldn't pay the tax. As a result, African-Americans made up a large portion of the voting population yet only a small fraction of them were registered; in Mississippi's 2nd Congressional District, despite making up more than half of the total adult population, fewer than 3% of eligible black voters were registered.[3]
Freedom Vote
On October 6th, 1963, a convention at the Masonic Temple in Jackson nominated NAACP leader Arron Henry for Governor, and activist Rev. Edwin King for Lt. Governor.[4] From October 14th to November 4th, volunteers worked to inform as many as they could about the Freedom Vote.
Beginning on November 2nd, polling stations setup in barber shops, churches, drug stores, and other Mississippi businesses began accepting ballots.[5] When polling concluded on November 4th, 78,869 ballots had been submitted across Mississippi, four times the number of blacks registered to vote.[1][6]
References
- ^ a b "Over 70,000 Cast Freedom Ballots." The Student Voice, vol. 4, no. 4, The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, November 11, 1963, http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15932coll2/id/50136 (Links to an external site.). Freedom Summer Collection, Wisconsin Historical Society, 2014.
- ^ Sargent, Frederic. The Civil Rights Revolution: Events and Leaders, 1955-1968. McFarland, 2004, p 72
- ^ "Mississippi Voter Registration Statistics by Race, 1964" (PDF). Civil Rights Movement Veterans.
- ^ "Mississippi Freedom Vote". SNCC Digital Gateway. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
- ^ "Freedom Ballot Instructions, November 1963" (PDF). Civil Rights Movement Veterans
- ^ "SNCC-Events: Freedom Ballot". www.ibiblio.org. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
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