NATCHEZ &045;&045; Neither local election officials nor the Attorney General’s Office will comment about an investigation of possible voter registration problems in Adams County.

An investigator with the Public Integrity Division of the Attorney General’s Office was in Natchez late last week and earlier this week conducting interviews as part of the investigation.

He would not comment and instead referred questions to Lee Martin, director of that division. &uot;I don’t want to comment at this point,&uot; Martin said Tuesday. &uot;It’s still too early.&uot;

Both Larry Gardner, chairman of the Adams County Election Commission, and Circuit Clerk M.L. &uot;Binkey&uot; Vines said Wednesday they are cooperating fully with the attorney general’s investigation.

District 1 Supervisor Sammy Cauthen has alleged several felons were registered to vote in the August primary and 300 to 500 people voters were either registered to vote or moved to District 1 from January until the August primary.

Cauthen said he got that number from the Election Commission. Jerry Lyles, Democratic candidate for District 1 supervisor, disputed those numbers, saying they seem too high. Cauthen also said he recently visited a one- or two-bedroom house in Sibley where 10 to 12 people were registered, although some of those people actually lived at other addresses. The names and addresses of those people were not available as of press time.

&uot;We’ll have lawyers at the polls (during the Nov. 4 general election) verifying voters’ addresses, and we’re requesting that the AG’s Office have poll workers there as well,&uot; Cauthen said. &uot;I’m not trying to prevent anyone from voting. I’m just trying to ensure a fair election for all the candidates,&uot; he said.

Gardner would not say much on the issue because an investigation is still ongoing.

However, he did note that redistricting could account for some of the growing number of voters in District 1, although those numbers could not be verified as of Wednesday afternoon.

For his part, Lyles said he does not know much about the investigation. But he did note when people are registered to vote at rallies and not at the Circuit Clerk’s Office, &uot;there’s nothing to tell us whether they’re a convicted felon or not,&uot; Lyles said. &uot;From what I understand, it’s up to the Election Commission to screen that.&uot;