1963 Freedom Vote
Freedom Summer was only possible because of years of earlier work by numerous African Americans who lived locally in Mississippi. In 1963, SNCC organized a mock "Freedom Vote" designed to demonstrate the will of Black Mississippians to vote, if not impeded by terror and intimidation. The Mississippi voting procedure at the time required Blacks to fill out a 21 question registration form and answer to the satisfaction of the white registrar, a question on interpretation of any one of 285 sections of the state constitution. Volunteers set up polling places in Black churches and business establishments across Mississippi. After registering on a simple registration form Voters would select candidates to run in the following year's election. Candidates included Rev. Edwin King of Tougaloo College and Aaron Henry, from Clarksdale, Mississippi. Local civil rights workers and volunteers along with students from Stanford and Yale, organized and implemented the mock election, in which tens of thousands voted.
Read more about this topic: Freedom Summer
Famous quotes containing the words freedom and/or vote:
“Is a Bill of Rights a security for [religious liberty]? If there were but one sect in America, a Bill of Rights would be a small protection for liberty.... Freedom derives from a multiplicity of sects, which pervade America, and which is the best and only security for religious liberty in any society. For where there is such a variety of sects, there cannot be a majority of any one sect to oppress and persecute the rest.”
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