Leslie Burl-McLemore, recognized as the first Black DeSoto County voter, says Scott Colom’s victory in Mississippi’s U.S. Senate race is a historic moment, and that the long wait for results shows it is time for the state to adopt early voting. McLemore shared his thoughts in an interview with Action News 5 published Thursday evening, Nov. 12.
Colom’s race was called by The Associated Press on Wednesday, Nov. 11, more than a week after Election Day, while DeSoto County election workers were still reviewing affidavit ballots in Hernando. Colom is the first Black candidate to win a Mississippi U.S. Senate seat since Reconstruction.
The First Black DeSoto County Voter Looks Back
McLemore’s own place in local history goes back to 1962. He was a 21-year-old student at Rust College in Holly Springs when he, his brother, and a friend went to the DeSoto County Courthouse in Hernando to register. He went on to become the first Black person to cast a ballot in the county.
Watching this year’s results, he told the station, felt “really surreal.” He called Colom’s win historic and said it is “really going to change the face of Mississippi politics.”
McLemore’s career has stretched well beyond that first vote. As DeSoto County News reported in 2023, he:
Was a leader in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) during the civil rights movement
Was a founding member of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party in 1964
Was the founding chair of the political science department at Jackson State University
Served on the Jackson City Council and later as an alderman in Walls
Helped shape the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and the Mississippi Freedom Trail markers
That year, the Mississippi Historical Society gave him its Lifetime Achievement Award.
Why He Says Mississippi Needs Early Voting
Mississippi does not offer no-excuse early voting. Most voters must cast ballots on Election Day unless they qualify for an absentee excuse. In a close race, affidavit and absentee ballots can take days to cure and count. That is what happened in DeSoto County this month, where official totals were not posted until hours after the Senate race had already been called.
McLemore said the system “has to change now.” He noted that some state lawmakers have tried before, without success, and said he expects Colom’s election to put more emphasis on the issue.
Early voting legislation has been drafted more than once but stalled in the House. The idea may now have support from both parties. Mississippi Republican Party Chairman Mike Hurst told Action News 5 that Republicans are “starting to wake up” to early voting, calling it something the state “can and should do.”
What Comes Next
Any change to Mississippi’s voting rules would have to pass the Legislature, which convenes in January. For DeSoto County, where more than 55,000 ballots were cast this year, faster counting could mean a much shorter wait on election night.
