April Fools Day? Come to Wilkinson County
Published 12:00am Tuesday, April 1, 2008As we celebrate April Fool’s Day today, perhaps it’s fitting to notice some of the sheer and utter foolishness going on in Wilkinson County and its never-ending Democratic primary election.
Last week, in a move aimed at thwarting further delays brought on by a recent federal lawsuit, a circuit judge has bumped back the already rescheduled elections.
The new election will be nearly a year after the original one.
Wilkinson County’s Democratic party has been fussing about the election since polls closed on Aug. 7, 2007. After months of squabbling and legal posturing, a judge ultimately threw out the paper ballots because no one could prove they were properly handled. Without the paper ballots, the entire election results were also thrown out.
“No problem,” the judge said. “We’ll just have an entirely new election.”
That only seems fair.
But a couple of residents who filed the lawsuit disagree.
And the lawsuit is the latest in a long string of foolishness that’s swirling around the elections process in Wilkinson County.
It’s foolish that the paper ballots were improperly handled in the first place. Come on, folks, this is 2007 — or was when the first ballots were cast.
It’s foolish that the entire elections process has become so mired in political infighting that taxpayers probably have incurred all kinds of court-related fees.
And, perhaps most of all, it’s foolish that the race card has been thrown into the ring in an apparent last-ditch effort to stall the process.
The three voters who filed the federal lawsuit contend that having a new election will discriminate against black voters.
What an outlandish statement and, in some ways, what a foolish slap in the face to the good citizens — black and white — of Wilkinson County.
Hopefully, the foolishness will be cleared up soon. Wilkinson County will have a new, cleanly run election and we’ll leave all the foolishness to April 1, 2009.
