As all 37 precincts reported Tuesday evening, unofficial results for the much-debated referendum to either move the water fountains or keep the water fountains in front of the Ellisville Courthouse fell in heavy favor of not removing them.
As the vote stands, 14,892 voters were against the removal of the water fountains, while 10,867 were for the removal, leaving a 4,025 vote gap.
In July, Donnie Watts, whose ancestors lived in Jones County for generations, asked the Jones County Board of Supervisors to pass a resolution to remove the fountains and send them to the Civil Rights Museum in Jackson, Mississippi.
“I’m not superman, but I can see right through the plaques every time I come to this courthouse,” he announced. “I see the humiliation and hurt of my grandfather, my grandmother, my mother, and me,” he said to the board.
“So the Board’s solution was to plaster over the words ‘color’ and ‘white’. Rain washed the plaster away, so they placed plaques over ‘color’ and ‘white’ so that you couldn’t see the words,” he explained at the July meeting.
The water fountains which have not functioned in years have the word “colored” engraved on one and “white” engraved on the other, however, the words have been covered by plaques since 1989 after it was voted the words to be covered at an August meeting, according to the AP.
The Jones County Board of Supervisors passed a motion on July 20 to add a referendum regarding the two water fountains to the November ballot after hearing Watts’ explanation.
“We just want to get the opinions of the voters of Jones County before we move forward with removing them or letting them stay in place,” said Danielle Ashley, Jones County board attorney, and chief administrative officer after the motion was made.
With the gap being 4,025 votes, absentee ballots would need to overwhelmingly favor the ‘YES” vote for the outcome to move in favor of moving the water fountains.