Mississippi Ballot Measure 3, State Flag Referendum (2020)

Mississippi State Flag Referendum
Election date November 3, 2020
Topic Motto and symbols
Status a Approved
Type State statute	Origin State legislature
List of Mississippi measuresBallot Measure 1 (Initiative 65 and Alternative 65A)Ballot Measure 2Ballot Measure 3Submit

The Mississippi State Flag Referendum was on the ballot in Mississippi as a legislatively referred state statute on November 3, 2020. It was approved.

A "yes" vote supported adopting a new official Mississippi state flag as designed by the Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag, which may not contain the Confederate Battle Flag and must include the words "In God We Trust."

A "no" vote opposed adopting the new proposed official Mississippi state flag and supports voting on another new flag design to be presented at a special election in 2021.

Aftermath

On January 5, 2021, the first day of the 2021 state legislative session, the Mississippi House of Representatives voted 119-1 to pass House Bill 1, which was designed to codify the new state flag into state law. The State Senate passed the bill on January 6, 2020, in a vote of 43-7. Governor Tate Reeves signed the bill on January 11, 2021. Additionally, a companion bill, House Bill 68, was passed in the House of Representatives on January 5, 2021. The bill was designed to appropriate funds to purchase new state flags.

Election results

Mississippi Ballot Measure 3
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		943,918	72.98%
No		349,522	27.02%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Overview

What did Ballot Measure 3 do?

Approval of Ballot Measure 3 directed the Mississippi State Legislature to pass legislation implementing the new design as the official state flag during the 2021 regular legislative session set to begin in January.

What flag did Mississippi vote on?

At the election on November 3, 2020, Mississippi voters were shown a colored picture of the new proposed state flag, named the In God We Trust Flag. Voters were able to vote either yes to adopt the new flag or no to oppose adopting the new state flag. It was approved. If the new proposed flag had been rejected by voters, the Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag would have reconvened to design another flag, and voters would have voted on it in November 2021. The commission unanimously selected the final flag on September 2, 2020. The flag is shown below:

How was the new proposed flag selected?

House Bill 1796, which was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Tate Reeves (R) on June 30, 2020, removed the official status of the state flag, which, at the time, contained the Confederate battle cross. The bill provided for the removal of the state flag within 15 days. The bill established the Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag, which was tasked with designing a new state flag and reporting the recommended design to the Governor and to the state legislature. The bill provided that "the new design for the Mississippi State Flag shall honor the past while embracing the promise of the future." The Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag consisted of nine members. The Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor each appointed three members. The other three members were representatives from the Mississippi Economic Council, the Mississippi Arts Commission, and the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, which were appointed by Gov. Tate Reeves.

The public was able to submit flag designs (either by mail or email) to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) until August 1, 2020. Flag designs needed to adhere to North American Vexillological Association standards (be simple enough that a child could draw it from memory; use meaningful symbolism; use two or three basic colors; not use lettering or seals; and be distinctive or be related). The commission received around 3,000 flags that met the criteria. The commission narrowed the designs down across four meetings until the final design was selected on September 2, 2020.

What is the history of Mississippi's state flag?

See also: Background

The previous Mississippi state flag was adopted by the state legislature in 1894. The emblem on the left side of the 1894 flag includes the Confederate Battle Cross.

Voters in Mississippi decided a state flag referendum in April 2001, which presented voters with two potential state flags. Voters approved Proposition A, which reaffirmed the use of the flag adopted in 1894 containing the Confederate flag.

Mississippi became the only state with a state flag containing the Confederate flag after Georgia had removed it from their state flag in 2001. The Georgia state flag had contained the Confederate flag since 1956.

Mississippi State Flag until June 30, 2020

Commission meetings and flag selection

By August 7, 2020, the nine commissioners of the Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag each needed to choose 25 flags to advance to the second round. On August 14, 2020, the Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag narrowed down the number of potential flags to nine. The designs were posted on the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) website. The MDAH offered a nonbinding public poll for anyone visiting the website to choose their favorite. The commission met on August 18 and selected five flags to move forward. The top five flags were set to be printed on fabric for commissioners to view at the meeting set for August 25. The top five flags were set to be offered for public comment beginning on August 25 through September 2. The commission selected two final flag designs on August 25, 2020. The final flag was adopted unanimously by the Commission on September 2, 2020. It was named the In God We Trust Flag.

Text of measure

Ballot question

“

Please vote 'Yes' or 'No' on whether the following design shall be the official Mississippi State Flag [] YES [] NO

”

Full text

The full text of House Bill 1796 is available here.

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2020

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title and summary for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The Mississippi State Legislature wrote the ballot language for this measure. The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 9, and the FRE is 60. The word count for the ballot title is 17, and the estimated reading time is 4 seconds.

Support

Arguments

• Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves (R): "This is not a political moment to me, but a solemn occasion to lead our Mississippi family to come together to be reconciled and to move on. We must understand that all who want change are not attempting to erase history and all who want the status quo are not mean spirited or hateful. ... I also understand the need to commit the 1894 flag to history and find a banner that is a better emblem for all Mississippi."
• Mississippi House Speaker Pro Tempore Jason White (R): House Speaker Pro Tempore Jason White (R) said that the Confederate flag had come to be viewed as a hate symbol "whether we like it or not" and that "by changing our flag, we don’t abandon our founding principles. We embrace them more fully by doing what is right. We’re not moving further away from our Founding Fathers’ visions. We’re moving closer to them. We’re not destroying our heritage; we’re fulfilling it."
• U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R): "This is a historic & long-awaited day for Mississippi. I appreciate our state legislators for having the courage and conviction to make this necessary change to our state flag. As I have maintained since 2015, Mississippians deserve a banner that unites us rather than divides us."
• Mississippi State Representative Robert Johnson III (D): "It is a symbol of terror in the Black community. It is a symbol of oppression in the Black community and it is a symbol of slavery. Everything that has been devastating to African Americans and to especially African Americans in the South, everything that has been a complete and utter disaster for us, that flag represents."
• The Mississippi Republican Party: "This was an organic change from inside Mississippi, led by Mississippi elected officials. We should be proud of that, regardless of whether outside voices praise or slander our effort. Governor Reeves, Lieutenant Governor Hosemann and Speaker Gunn are to be commended for their leadership. ... We now have a unique opportunity, during a time of unrest in other parts of the country, to do what Mississippians have always done best—come together during times of trial to reach upward and step forward together."

Opposition

Arguments

• Sen. Chris McDaniel (R): "I can see where any symbol can be subject to misinterpretation ...I'm going to come down on the side of history and tradition."
• Let Mississippi Vote: Let Mississippi Vote said it would sponsor a future ballot initiative related to the state flag when they reach 5,000 volunteers. The group said, "With the historic flag vote in Jackson, our legislators stole our voice from us. If you would like to volunteer to make sure Mississippi has a voice on deciding our state flag, please sign up today."
• Sen. Chris McDaniel (R): “I think we owe it to history to push back against a movement like that. And ultimately, in my mind, it is not about a flag at all, this is about the people having a voice. Ultimately we will be pleased with whatever the people decide, it’s just to take the issue away from them causes more harm in the long run then it should.”
• Sen. Joey Fillingane (R): “This issue should go on the ballot for the State of Mississsippi to decide, and if they vote to change the flag at least people can buy into they will know it was there decision and they make it themselves, and it wasn’t something forced upon them by the politicians here in Jackson and by the outside interests of Washington and New York City.”

Media editorials

See also: 2020 ballot measure media endorsements

Support

• Sun Herald Editorial Board: "It’s pretty simple. Our current flag doesn’t represent all Mississippians. When many of us look at the flag, we see the Confederate battle flag emblem, which reminds us of the state’s long ties to racism, slavery and oppression."

Opposition

If you are aware of an editorial opposing Ballot Measure 3, please send an email with a link to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Mississippi ballot measures

Total campaign contributions:
Support:	$0.00
Opposition:	$0.00

Ballotpedia did not identify any committees registered in support of or in opposition to the measure.

If you are aware of a committee registered to support or oppose this measure, please email editor@ballotpedia.org.

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls and 2020 ballot measure polls

A poll conducted between October 23 and October 26, 2020, found that 61% of respondents planned to vote in favor of Ballot Measure 3, 31% planned to vote against it, and 8% were undecided. Poll results are detailed below.

Mississippi Ballot Measure 3
Poll	Support	Oppose	Undecided	Margin of error	Sample size
Civiqs poll 10/23/20 - 10/26/20	61.0%	31.0%	8.0%	+/-5.3	507
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Background

History of Mississippi state flag

Flag referendum of 2001

See also: Mississippi State Flag Referendum (April 2001)

The previous Mississippi state flag was adopted by the state legislature in 1894. The emblem on the left side of the 1894 flag included the Confederate battle cross. In 1906, Mississippi enacted a revised code of laws, and due to an oversight, the law establishing the official state flag was inadvertently repealed. Voters in Mississippi decided a state flag referendum in April 2001. The measure presented voters with two potential state flags. Voters approved Proposition A, which made the 1894 Confederate flag the official state flag.

The 2001 flag referendum came about after a lawsuit brought by the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) in 1993 alleging that the use of the Confederate flag in the state flag violated plaintiff's constitutional rights to free speech, due process, and equal protection. The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that the state flag's inclusion of the Confederate Battle Flag did not violate any constitutionally protected rights. The court had also found that the state flag requirements were not codified in state law and thus that Mississippi did not have an official state flag. The 2001 flag referendum was held to formally adopt a state flag and officially codify it in law.

Previous citizen initiatives concerning the state flag

There was one attempt by citizen initiative in 2018 to remove references to the Confederate flag from the state's flag. The measure, which would have required 86,185 valid signatures, did not qualify to appear on the ballot since petitioners did not submit any signatures.

There were four previous citizen initiatives (three in 2018 and one in 2019) that sought to recognize the state's current flag (containing the Confederate battle cross) as the official flag in the state constitution. None of the measures qualified for the ballot.

George Floyd death and protests

See also: Changes to policing policy in the states and 100 largest cities, 2020

On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officers arrested George Floyd, a Black man, after receiving a call that he had made a purchase with a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd died after one officer, Derek Chauvin, arrived at the scene and pressed his knee onto Floyd's neck as Floyd laid face-down on the street in handcuffs. Both the Hennepin County Medical Examiner and an independent autopsy conducted by Floyd's family ruled Floyd's death as a homicide stemming from the incident.

After the killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, protests against racism and the debate about confederate flags and statues resurfaced. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves (R) Tweeted on June 27, 2020, "The argument over the 1894 flag has become as divisive as the flag itself and it’s time to end it." State Representative Robert Johnson III (D) said, "It is a symbol of terror in the Black community. It is a symbol of oppression in the Black community and it is a symbol of slavery. Everything that has been devastating to African Americans and to especially African Americans in the South, everything that has been a complete and utter disaster for us, that flag represents." Johnson said the protests against racism after Floyd's death created "a perfect storm" that spurred the state legislature to act in removing the state flag.

Use of confederate symbols in other state flags

Mississippi became the only state with a state flag containing the Confederate flag after Georgia had removed it from their state flag in 2001. Georgia, the only other state with a state flag containing the Confederate flag, contained it since 1956. Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee, (which were Confederate states) each have state flags with histories related to the Confederate flag, according to Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post. For example, the Arkansas state flag includes four stars. The lone star above the word Arkansas was added "to commemorate Arkansas' membership in the Confederacy," according to the Arkansas Secretary of State's office. Dr. Thomas Owen, director of the Alabama Department of Archives and History, concluded that the Alabama state flag was designed to "preserve in permanent form some of the more distinctive features of the Confederate battle flag, particularly the St. Andrew’s cross."

Top five flag designs

The top five flag designs were as follows:

Path to the ballot

On June 27, 2020, the state legislature passed House Concurrent Resolution 79, which suspended the legislative deadlines for introducing bills so that a bill could be introduced to establish a commission to design a new state flag. The bill, House Bill 1796, was passed by the state legislature on June 28, 2020, in a vote of 92-23 in the House and 37-14 in the Senate.

In the House, all 46 Democratic representatives voted in favor of the bill. The vote among House Republicans was split with 45 voting in favor, 23 voting against, and five absent or not voting. Independent Representative Angela Cockerham voted in favor. There were two vacancies in the House at the time of the vote.

In the Senate, all 16 Democratic senators voted in favor of the bill. The vote among Senate Republicans was split with 21 voting in favor, 14 voting against, and one absent or not voting.

The bill required the governor's signature. Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves (R) was expected to sign it. Reeves signed the bill on June 30, 2020.

Vote totals on House Bill 1796 by party are below.

Vote in the Mississippi House of Representatives June 28, 2020
Requirement: Simple majority vote in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 61  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	92	23	5
Total percent	76.67%	19.17%	4.17%
Democrat	46	0	0
Republican	45	23	5
Independent	1	0	0

Vote in the Mississippi State Senate June 28, 2020
Requirement: Simple majority vote in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 27  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	37	14	1
Total percent	71.15%	26.92%	1.93%
Democrat	16	0	0
Republican	21	14	1

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in Mississippi

Click "Show" to learn more about voter registration, identification requirements, and poll times in Mississippi.

How to cast a vote in Mississippi

The information below covers regular voting policies in the state. Information may have not applied to the election on November 3, 2020, because of temporary changes in response to coronavirus. Click here to read about changes made for the 2020 elections. Poll times All polling places in Mississippi are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Central Time. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote. Registration requirements Check your voter registration status here. To register in Mississippi, prospective voters must be United States citizens, residents of their county in Mississippi for at least 30 days, and at least 18 years old by Election Day. Registration applications must be submitted by mail or in person to the local circuit clerk’s office at least 30 days before an election. Mailed applications must be postmarked by this date. Automatic registration Mississippi does not practice automatic voter registration. Online registration See also: Online voter registration Mississippi does not permit online voter registration. Same-day registration Mississippi does not allow same-day voter registration. Residency requirements To register to vote in Mississippi, you must be a resident of the state for at least 30 days. Verification of citizenship See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States Prospective voters registering for the first time must provide either their Mississippi driver’s license number or social security number. If neither is available, they must submit "a copy of a current and valid photo ID or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or other government document" showing their current address in order to verify their residency. Verifying your registration The site Y’all Vote, run by the Mississippi Secretary of State office, allows residents to check their voter registration status online. Voter ID requirements Mississippi requires voters to present photo identification while voting. The following list of accepted ID was current as of April 2023. Click here for the Mississippi Secertary of State page on accepted ID to ensure you have the most current information. Driver's license (including a Digital ID provided by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety) Photo ID card issued by a branch, department, or entity of the State of Mississippi United States passport Government employee ID card Firearms license Student photo ID issued by an accredited Mississippi university, college, or community/junior college United States military ID Tribal photo ID Any other photo ID issued by any branch, department, agency or entity of the United States government or any state government Mississippi Voter Identification Card Voters can obtain a Mississippi Voter Identification Card for free at any circuit clerk’s office in Mississippi. Voters can apply for a card during normal business hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.). Voters who need transportation to a circuit clerk’s office can call the secretary of state’s voter ID toll-free hotline at 1-844-678-6837, visit www.MSVoterID.ms.gov, or email MSVoterID@sos.ms.gov to schedule a ride. Transportation is free of charge.

See also

2020 measures

• 2020 ballot measures
• Motto and symbols on the ballot
• 2020 legislative sessions

Mississippi

• Mississippi ballot measures
• Mississippi ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• House Bill 1796 full text
• 2020 Ballot Initiative Information
• 2020 Ballot Initiative Brochure
• 2020 General Election Sample Ballot