Woodville — Candidates in Wilkinson County’s Aug. 7 election will have to wait a little longer to examine the ballots cast.

Four candidates — supervisor candidates Kirk Smith and Wally Cavin, circuit clerk candidate Lynn Delaney and sheriff candidate Jessie Stewart — filed a request to examine the ballot boxes from the election, but were not allowed to do so when they thought they would be able to Tuesday.

If candidates find irregularities they can opt to contest the election results.

However, Tuesday morning Circuit Clerk Mon Allen said he would not allow the examination for several reasons.

Allen said he interpreted a restraining order saying he could not be a part of ballot box examinations to mean he could not physically carry the boxes to the courtroom.

“I am in charge of all the (elections) boxes in the circuit clerk’s office,” he said.

Attorney Ben Piazza, representing Smith, asked Allen if it was his intention to not allow the candidates to examine the boxes.

An examination of the boxes will not be allowed unless permission is obtained from the U.S. Justice Department, Allen said.

The Justice Department has been in Wilkinson County recently to investigate allegations of civil rights violations during elections.

“I don’t want to get in trouble,” Allen said.

The restraining order does not restrict Allen from fulfilling his statutory obligations as circuit clerk, Piazza said.

After Allen left, the candidates and their attorneys decided their only avenue was to file a petition with a higher court to force him to allow the examination.

“What we’re trying to do is make Allen enforce his statutory obligations,” Piazza said. “This delay is not our doing.”

Attorney Dennis Horn, who represents Stewart, said Tuesday’s events were nothing more than delay tactics.

“They’re (Allen) just trying to stonewall until Aug. 30 when the temporary restraining order expires,” he said.

The order would allow Centreville resident Ann Greer and her supporters to help verify the examinations.

Greer was elected president of the Wilkinson County Democratic committee at a July 23 meeting attended by 19 of the committee’s 31 members, but the state Democratic Party has not recognized her as president.

Once the order expires, the election verification will revert to the officially recognized Democratic committee leadership unless a different judge grants a preliminary injunction, Horn said.

A preliminary injunction is a restraining order that will stay in place until a trial, Horn said.

The recognized president of the committee is Easter Prater, who as vice president assumed the position of president after the former chairman died in April.

Smith wants to examine the results because of unusually high absentee voting in his district, Smith said.

On election day, Smith was winning at the polls until approximately 200 absentee votes were brought in, he said.

Only approximately 5 percent of those absentee votes went to Smith, he said.

Absentee votes usually follow the trends at the polls, Smith said.

Another unusual thing about the absentee ballots was their sheer numbers, he said.

“Historically, there have only been about 28 to 32 absentee ballots cast in my district,” he said. “You put my name on the ballot, and there are 200.”

Personal observations at the time of the election were enough for Delaney to want to examine the boxes, she said.

“During the process, there were so many discrepancies and irregularities visually noted,” Delaney said. “In front of a courtroom full of people, they brought in several boxes with no seals on them.”

Those verifying the election said it was a simple mistake, Delaney said.

“A mistake is constituting my future,” she said. “I just want it to be fair.”