National and state NAACP leaders call for fair and legal ballot count

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Leaders with the NAACP are calling for a fair and legal vote count in Mississippi’s U.S. Senate race.

Their message: election officials should be able to legally count ballots without pressure or intimidation.

Derrick Johnson, CEO for the NAACP, joined other leaders in Jackson Sunday afternoon to remind voters and elections officials they are standing with them for a fair and legal count of ballots.

Democratic candidate Scott Colom now has a lead of more than 2,500 votes over Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith.

The NAACP has set up a strategy room to watch the process.

Charles Taylor, Mississippi State Executive Director, said any attempt to tamper with this election will be met with resistance.

“Today we will control the vote by making sure that every vote is counted,” Taylor said.

“After this election, this state must wrestle with the fact that it is their election laws that is causing the delay that we are seeing,” said Johnson. “And, as a result of that, we must stay ever vigilant to ensure that the monitors are not disrupting the process but the monitors also are safeguards against individuals who would try to sabotage or tamper with the election process.”

Johnson also said the state has witnessed one of the highest turnouts in history and every voter who did the right thing to legally cast their ballot should and deserves to be counted.

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