DESOTO COUNTY, MS (abc24.com) - If you register to vote at a government office, you would think you'd be taken care of. That's not the case for hundreds who headed to the polls after they registered at DeSoto County's Department of Public Safety.
According to Dale Thompson, DeSoto County Circuit Clerk, "When you have a big turnout that's when a lot of people start calling and saying 'I don't have my voter registration card, I registered through DPS."
That's a problem. Without that card you don't get a vote.
Thompson advised, "Anybody that registered through DPS when they got their driver's license needs to be sure if haven't received a card, they need to contact our office and we will find out if they're registered or not."
ABC 24 News had a stack of papers last November, all people who had problems in that election. The Department of Public Safety still hasn't corrected the issue.
"It's an on going thing," Thompson said. "A lot of it is clerical. The people registering people to vote there might not mark the little box."
The DPS is even sending people in circles.
Thompson explained, "A lot of people are going to get a driver's license have to have proof of residency to get it, so driver's license people are sending them to us to get a voter registration card. Well, we can't give them a card any different than they can. We have to have proof of residency."
We asked DPS about the issue and were told they don't know what's causing the trouble. They're still trying to figure it out, and have been for months.
In the meantime if you're a new voter registering, Thompson said, "the best thing to do is register at the clerk's office; we hand you a card right across the counter."
