Redistricting will not happen in Sunflower County based on a unanimous decision from the Sunflower County Board of Supervisors during a regular meeting on Monday. South Delta Planning & Development District conducted a study of the county’s population spanning several months and concluded that the best course of action was to do nothing.
“You have two options,” said South Delta P&DD Executive Director Tommy Goodwin. “You can do nothing or take a look at another option that we’ve developed.”
As the board welcomed the news of not having to redistrict, SDP&DD Community Development Director Allyson Denson never had to open her scrolls she had at the podium. She provided trends in population comparing 2010 and 2020 census data district by district.
Denson’s figures demonstrated there was a decrease in population in the county from 25, 971 in 2010 compared to 22,463 in 2020. Districts 2 and 5 were the only two areas to show increases in population. “It is my understanding, Allyson, that if we don’t have a 10% variance in population that we do not have to redistrict,” said Board Attorney Johnny McWilliams. “This is a pleasant surprise because I was under the assumption that we were about to undertake this long, complicated process.”
Denson responded, “The old saying is, ‘if it ain’t broke then you don’t fix it!”’
Two groups in Sunflower County that could not be counted towards official population totals were inmates at Parchman and some students at Mississippi Delta Community College. The 3,130 inmates are ineligible to vote and 395 dormitory students at MDCC are not residents of Sunflower County.
McWilliams enumerated the benefits of the county not having to be bothered with the process. These include not having the expense, not having to notify voters, and relieving some of the burden from the from the circuit clerk’s office.
Sunflower County NAACP President Charles Modley chimed in with both questions about the numbers that Denson produced and criticism of the Board of Supervisors for not hearing alternatives. “Will we get a chance to see the other options,” Modley said. “It’s just a difference of opinion.”
Modley said that he wanted to challenge what was presented considering what has happened in the most recent election cycle. He stated that during the judicial election that took place two weeks ago, this was the first time in several elections where he was not able to vote for a candidate.
District 1 Supervisor Glenn Donald said, “There was a candidate in the most recent election who was unable to vote for themselves because of redrawn voting districts. But this was a separate matter from the state legislature and they did not inform the circuit clerk about this.”
As Modley continued to dig into his insistence to see South Delta’s alternative plan, he came to the podium to elaborate. McWilliams countered Modley by saying, “redistricting is a purely political process. This is about people vying to make decisions about everything affecting citizens’ lives in Sunflower County. So, you have so many options. In my opinion, there is no need to see those other options.”
The discussion concluded with Goodwin waiving the $15,000 fee that SDP&DD had originally charged the county for redistricting research.
