Runoff election morning didn’t get off to a smooth start, according to one of the candidates in the race for Natchez mayor.

Mayor Larry L. &uot;Butch&uot;&160;Brown and poll watcher Ed Godfrey said there were signs advocating opponent F.L. &uot;Hank&uot; Smith inside the polling place at the United Steelworkers of America union hall on Gayosa Street. By law, campaign workers and campaign signs must stay 150 feet away from a polling place.

&uot;The union workers were inside the voting perimeter,&uot; Brown said. &uot;They had a sign on the walls inside the voting precinct.&uot;

The mayor’s race may have been too close to call Tuesday night. Just 224 votes separated the candidates, and

Godfrey said the signs were either &uot;for Hank or against Butch.&uot; &uot;It’s a tough situation,&uot; said Godfrey. &uot;This is in fact their union hall.&uot;

Smith said he had not heard about the problems that afternoon and had no comment.

Election commissioner Larry Gardner said the signs were taken down quickly and the voting entrance to the hall was moved to the side door so that voters did not walk down the hall where the Steelworkers’ offices are located in the building.

&uot;There were a lot of hurdles these voters had to go through,&uot;&160;Gardner said. &uot;Did that have an impact on any of the voters? I don’t know.&uot;

If contesting votes based on such an incident, a candidate would have to prove two things, said David Blount, a spokesman for the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office: first, that the incident occurred, and second, that it affected the outcome of an election. That would have to be decided in court, he said.

Gardner, who admitted &uot;maybe (the union hall) isn’t the best place to have a polling place,&uot; said it may be premature to say whether the polling place should be moved.

With a Census under way, there is a chance that the city’s district lines will be redrawn before the next municipal election, Gardner said.

Brown reported another problem at the Ward 5 voting site, the National Guard Armory on Liberty Road.

Brown said a bailiff had signed a petition supporting Smith. The bailiff was later relieved of his duties for the day.

&uot;It seems like there’s a lot of hanky-panky going on,&uot; Brown said.