NATCHEZ &045; While candidates facing the Aug. 26 runoff and Nov. 4 general election mostly took Wednesday off to rest, there was little rest for county election officials.

Due to a high number of affidavit ballots, certification of Tuesday’s Democratic primary may not be completed until Friday or Saturday, according to party officials.

One factor was that some voters were in the county Election Commission’s computers but were not listed on the poll books, said Audrey Seale, chairwoman of the Adams County Democratic Committee.

In order to vote, those people had to fill out affidavit ballots, and those must be counted by hand. Although exact numbers weren’t available as of Wednesday afternoon, Seale said the number of affidavit ballots ran into the hundreds.

Election Commissioner Larry Gardner said that, in 90 percent of those cases, people weren’t on the poll books because they had changed addresses without notifying election authorities.

Other problems also cropped up on election day, with several polling places running out of ballots due to the large turnout of Democratic voters in the primary.

Ballots had to be rushed to those locations, said Beverly Merrill, secretary of the Democratic Committee. &uot;We appreciate those voters who waited patiently&uot; while more ballots were brought in, she said.

Other problems ranged from a lack of signs at the Union Hall polling place to electrical problems at the Palestine precinct, Merrill said.

A handful of the polling places had little or no air conditioning, according to Republican officials.

&uot;They’d say there was air conditioning, but there was no air coming out,&uot; said Johnny Junkin, vice-chairman of the Adams County Republican Committee.

Meanwhile, the candidates that did won party nominations but face runoffs or the general election said they will rest for a day or two &045; and then start meeting as voters as possible face to face, concentrating in areas they weren’t able to reach the first time around.

&uot;I’m taking the day off &045; a couple of days, actually &045; because it’s been a long campaign,&uot; said Jerry Lyles. He won the Democratic nomination for District 1 supervisor and will face Republican Sammy Cauthen Nov. 4.

&uot;Then I’m going to go door to door to see as many people as I can, letting them know our vision,&uot; Lyles said. &uot;I plan to walk the district completely.&uot;

Henry Watts, who will face fellow Democrat Virginia Salmon in the District 2 supervisor’s runoff Aug. 26, said he will also concentrate on door-to-door visits in addition to other advertising &045; no small challenge in such a large district.

&uot;I enjoy going into these houses and talking to people about what their concerns are,&uot; said Watts who, like Lyles, could not be reached for comment Tuesday following the election returns.