With the November 8 midterms rapidly approaching, state leaders are looking to encourage Mississippians to make their voices heard through the right to vote.
After a low voter turnout during the July primary elections, Kimberly Campbell, the State Director of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), is hoping to relay a strong message to push residents of the Magnolia State to get into the ballot box on election day. However, before anybody can vote, they must be registered by a nearing deadline.
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“One of the deadlines that’s coming up is October 10 and that is the deadline that you have to register to vote,” Campbell told SuperTalk Mississippi News. “If you know young people in your life or you even know some adults in your life that you know are not registered, please have some good really dialogue and conversations with those individuals. Encourage them to register by October 10.”
Although the AARP remains nonpartisan and does not tell individuals how to vote, the organization is hoping to see bipartisan support for measures to protect social security, improve Medicare benefits, and combat the rising prices of prescription medications.
“We want bipartisan support to come up with common sense solutions to make sure that social security remains solvent for future generations. We’re always in the fight for protecting and improving Medicare benefits,” Campbell continued. “We still fight the fight against big pharma with rising prescription drug costs. It is really sad when you have someone who has worked all of their life, and they find themself at 70 having to decide between rent, food, and medication. That should not happen in this country.”
Another cause the AARP wishes to see congressional leaders advance is a caregiver tax credit. Campbell believes that there ought to be a form of relief for those who are tasked with providing care to a loved one unable to care for themselves.
“In the state of Mississippi, we have roughly 500,000 adults every year who, in some facets, find themselves as a caregiver for a loved one.” Campbell added. “It can be an extra financial hardship. Sometimes they lose their jobs when they’re taking care of loved ones. We want something to be done to try to alleviate some of those financial burdens for the spouses and other people that may be caregivers for loved ones.”
Campbell, in partnership with Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson, is challenging the people of Mississippi to register to vote by October 10 and to make their way to their local precincts to cast ballots on November 10.
