10/27/20 – More Localized Mandates | Medical Marijuana Ballot Measure | Voter Engagement

The Governor expands his localized mitigation efforts to seven more counties, but one week out from Election Day, exempts polling sites from mask mandates.Then, the vote for medical marijuana is one week away. We examine the two proposals on the ballot.Plus, we look at how organizations are engaging voters ahead of this year’s highly anticipated election.Segment 1:Governor Tate Reeves is responding to the recent upward trend of coronavirus transmission by expanding his localized mitigation approach. During a press conference yesterday, Reeves announced he is adding seven more counties to the list he introduced during his initial order last week. Residents in Benton, Carroll, Harrison, Jones, Leake, Madison, and Marshall counties will be required to wear masks indoors while in public. Reeves says this approach is the best way to avoid additional lock downs.The growing list of counties under a mandate comes as the state and the nation prepare for a much anticipated election. Despite the Executive Order requiring masks be worn while in public and indoors, Reeves says he is making an exception for polling locations. Segment 2:Mississippi could become the 34th state to legalize medical marijuana. Voters will get to decide next Tuesday. As MPB’s Ashley Norwood reports, there are two proposals on the November ballot: initiative 65 and alternative 65A.Segment 3:Mississippians are one week away from voting in what is arguably the most pivotal election of this century. More than 140,000 people have already voted by absentee — surpassing numbers in 2016. And election experts predict a record breaking voter turnout at the polls next Tuesday. MPB’s Ashley Norwood checks in with Fletcher Freeman, State Chairman of the Mississippi Federation of College Republicans and Executive Director Arekia Bennett of Mississippi Votes.

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