Wilkinson election not yet contested
Published Monday, July 7, 2008
WOODVILLE — Officials at the Wilkinson County Circuit Clerk’s office said no one had filed a contest for the June 24 election, but examination of the paper ballots continued Monday.
Candidate for sheriff Jesse Stewart said he had not made a decision about whether or not he would contest the election, but he would likely make his decision today.
Candidate for District 2 supervisor Kirk Smith said he most likely would file a contest.
“Right now we are still examining the boxes to see what grounds we have to go further,” Smith said. “If we can find what we are sure we are going to find anyway we will have enough for a contest.
At this point, the ballot examination should be considered an investigation, Smith said.
In the certified results of the election, Smith lost his challenge to District 2 Supervisor Richard Hollins by 29 votes.
Incumbent Sheriff Reginald “Pip” Jackson carried the special election with a 63-vote lead over Stewart.
Smith and Stewart filed to examine the boxes early last week, and when it came time to start examinations, Jackson and Hollins also wanted to examine the boxes.
Judge Jim Persons ruled Hollins and Jackson did not have a right to examine the boxes at that time, and they filed to be able to examine the boxes.
By law, candidates have to give their opponents a three-day notice before they examine the boxes, and so Jackson and Hollins were first given the opportunity to examine them Saturday.
Circuit Clerk Mon Cree Allen, who lost his bid for re-election to challenger Lynn Tolliver Delaney by 506 votes, filed to examine the ballots at the same time as Hollins and Jackson.
The contents of the ballot boxes include poll sign-in sheets, poll books and paper ballots.
Paper ballots include absentee, affidavit and curbside ballots.
Persons called the June 24 special election after months of contention about who the true winners of the August 2007 Wilkinson County Democratic primary were.
After the initial election, allegations of fraud and vote-buying were leveled, and a one-member majority of the Wilkinson County Democratic Executive Committee voted to throw out all paper ballots on the basis of those allegations.
Allen, Hollins and Jackson filed the contest because the decision to throw out the paper ballots reversed wins for them to wins for Delaney, Smith and Stewart.
The contest ended after months of legal wrangling when Persons declared the court could not trust the paper ballots because of questions about who had access to and custody of the ballots between August and the time the contest was filed in November.
A general election is scheduled for July 22.
Unless a contest changes the election results, Jackson will face independent candidate Calvin Gaines, and Delaney will face independent Donna Smith.
