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2001 Mississippi flag referendum

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2001 Mississippi flag referendum
April 17, 2001 (2001-04-17)
 
Candidate Proposition A Proposition B
Popular vote 494,323 273,359
Percentage 64.39% 35.61%

The 2001 Mississippi flag referendum was a legislatively referred state statute appearing on an April 17, 2001 special election ballot, an election held specifically for this referendum.[1]

Voters were asked to choose between two propositions relating to the Flag of Mississippi. Proposition A would keep the then current flag, which featured the Confederate battle flag in the canton. Proposition B would have slightly altered the flag by replacing the rebel battle flag canton with another completely brand new and different canton of a blue square featuring 20 white stars, arranged in a circle row, representing Mississippi as the 20th state in the union. Voters chose proposition A, which maintained the then current flag until its replacement in 2021.[2][3][4][5][6]

Proposition A

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Arguments

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  • "The pro-Proposition B economic argument didn't work because they could never name a single business that left the state of Mississippi or didn't come here because of the flag. And the racism argument didn't work because all these white liberals were lumping all black people together as helpless victims, and that didn't go over too well with anyone."[1]

Supporters

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Proposition B

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Arguments

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  • Pro-Proposition B forces issued an advertisement reading, “It's not right that our kids can't find good jobs close to home because companies won't locate in our state, but it's a fact. They have the wrong idea about Mississippi. A state flag that includes the Confederate flag just adds to those false opinions.”

Supporters

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Result

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Voters voted to maintain the current flag, keeping the following law:

§ 3-3-16. Design of state flag. The official flag of the State of Mississippi shall have the following design: with width two-thirds (2/3) of its length; with the union (canton) to be square, in width two-thirds (2/3) of the width of the flag; the ground of the union to be red and a broad blue saltire thereon, bordered with white and emblazoned with thirteen (13) mullets or five-pointed stars, corresponding with the number of the original States of the Union; the field to be divided into three (3) bars of equal width, the upper one blue, the center one white, and the lower one, extending the whole length of the flag, red (the national colors); this being the flag adopted by the Mississippi Legislature in the 1894 Special Session.

Option Votes
Num. %
Proposition A (status quo) 494,323 64.39
Proposition B (alternative flag) 273,359 35.61
Total 767,682 100.00
Source: Mississippi Secretary of State[7]

Results by county

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County Proposition A Prop. A% Proposition B Prop. B%
Adams 5,082 47.45% 5,628 52.55%
Alcorn 7,652 83.99% 1,459 16.02%
Amite 3,279 65.41% 1,734 34.59%
Attala 3,943 66.85% 1,955 33.15%
Benton 1,899 73.78% 675 26.22%
Bolivar 3,647 41.08% 5,321 58.92%
Calhoun 3,703 78.04% 1,042 21.96%
Carroll 2,893 73.28% 1,055 26.72%
Chickasaw 4,014 64.23% 2,235 35.77%
Choctaw 2,383 74.54% 814 25.46%
Claiborne 719 21.17% 2,678 78.83%
Clarke 3,765 64.89% 2,037 35.11%
Clay 3,310 49.83% 3,332 50.17%
Coahoma 2,614 49.23% 2,806 51.77%
Copiah 5,168 58.56% 3,657 41.44%
Covington 4,441 72.64% 1,673 27.36%
DeSoto 18,712 84.90% 3,327 15.10%
Forrest 11,209 63.18% 6,533 36.82%
Franklin 2,514 71.83% 986 28.17%
George 5,544 89.75% 633 10.25%
Greene 3,437 85.90% 564 14.10%
Grenada 4,058 59.11% 2,807 40.89%
Hancock 10,100 85.05% 1,775 14.95%
Harrison 28,590 68.56% 13,109 31.44%
Hinds 23,686 36.00% 42,113 64.00%
Holmes 1,664 32.37% 3,477 67.63%
Humphreys 1,484 46.51% 1,707 53.49%
Issaquena 349 53.28% 306 46.72%
Itawamba 6,372 88.94% 792 11.06%
Jackson 24,697 73.37% 8,962 26.63%
Jasper 3,628 57.66% 2,664 42.34%
Jefferson 468 17.34% 2,231 82.66%
Jefferson Davis 2,504 53.97% 2,136 46.03%
Jones 16,392 76.45% 5,049 23.55%
Kemper 1,733 48.82% 1,817 51.18%
Lafayette 5,037 53.95% 4,299 46.05%
Lamar 10,194 80.07% 2,537 19.93%
Lauderdale 11,542 64.27% 6,418 35.73%
Lawrence 3,936 72.65% 1,482 27.35%
Leake 4,073 68.59% 1,865 31.41%
Lee 12,472 65.16% 6,770 34.84%
Leflore 3,135 45.90% 3,695 54.10%
Lincoln 8,331 74.38% 2,870 25.62%
Lowndes 7,572 55.83% 5,990 44.17%
Madison 10,809 48.54% 11,459 51.46%
Marion 6,814 74.79% 2,297 25.21%
Marshall 4,392 58.90% 3,065 41.10%
Monroe 7,999 69.56% 3,500 30.44%
Montgomery 2,375 59.75% 1,600 40.25%
Neshoba 5,635 76.91% 1,692 23.09%
Newton 4,656 73.06% 1,717 26.94%
Noxubee 1,273 37.80% 2,095 62.20%
Oktibbeha 4,537 44.55% 5,648 55.45%
Panola 5,410 63.73% 3,079 36.27%
Pearl River 11,623 85.72% 1,936 14.28%
Perry 3,401 83.75% 660 16.25%
Pike 6,049 56.76% 4,609 43.24%
Pontotoc 6,652 83.27% 1,336 16.73%
Prentiss 6,451 86.67% 992 13.33%
Quitman 1,190 54.86% 979 45.14%
Rankin 25,311 74.62% 8,609 25.38%
Scott 5,123 65.80% 2,663 34.20%
Sharkey 871 51.42% 823 48.58%
Simpson 6,432 73.33% 2,339 26.67%
Smith 5,318 84.94% 943 15.06%
Stone 3,808 80.24% 938 19.76%
Sunflower 2,911 45.38% 3,504 54.62%
Tallahatchie 2,503 57.57% 1,845 42.43%
Tate 4,622 75.70% 1,484 24.30%
Tippah 6,067 86.75% 918 13.13%
Tishomingo 5,101 90.80% 517 9.20%
Tunica 636 46.15% 742 53.85%
Union 6,535 83.71% 1,272 16.29%
Walthall 3,169 71.23% 1,280 28.77%
Warren 8,582 61.44% 5,385 38.56%
Washington 5,607 48.95% 5,847 51.05%
Wayne 4,586 71.20% 1,855 28.80%
Webster 3,271 81.19% 758 18.81%
Wilkinson 1,226 43.08% 1,620 56.92%
Winston 4,310 62.44% 2,593 37.56%
Yalobusha 2,753 65.27% 1,465 34.73%
Yazoo 4,370 50.00% 4,370 50.00%

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Mississippi Flag Referendum (April 2001)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  2. ^ Firestone, David (April 18, 2001). "Mississippi Votes by Wide Margin to Keep State Flag That Includes Confederate Emblem". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  3. ^ "CNN.com - Mississippi votes 2-1 to keep existing flag - April 17, 2001". www.cnn.com. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  4. ^ Ladd, Donna. "How Mississippians Voted in 2001 on the State Flag: The Numbers". jacksonfreepress.com. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  5. ^ Gettleman, Jeffrey (April 18, 2001). "Mississippi Votes to Keep Confederate Battle Cross on State's Flag". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  6. ^ Duggan, Paul (April 18, 2001). "Mississippi Keeps Its State Flag". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  7. ^ a b MISSISSIPPI OFFICIAL AND STATISTICAL REGISTER 2000-2004