Nearly nine months after Wilkinson County residents first cast their votes in the Democratic Party primary, a small group continues to beat the proverbial dead horse in hopes to have their way in the fiasco that was originally an August primary.

The general election has already come and gone. An outside judge — theoretically one whose motives for deciding a certain way cannot be questioned — has ruled on the matter.

The circumstances surrounding the handling — or mishandling — of the ballots cannot be confirmed.

Allegations of voter fraud have flailed in the air like a whip searching for the dead horse’s hide — hamburgers bought for voters; rides to the polls given.

In the swirl of allegations, Judge Jim Persons determined that the integrity of the paper ballots was in question. The only way out, he said, was to have an entirely new election.

We agree.

Unfortunately, a handful of litigious whip-wielders have now taken Persons’ ruling to federal court in hopes of getting their way.

The only logical reason we can see that they want to have the judge’s decision tossed out is that they feel their candidates will lose the race in a new election with third-party helpers keeping watch.

We hope the court will uphold Persons’ decision, clearing the way for a new election and hopefully the horse’s burial, too.

The good news is dead horses cannot feel pain; the bad news is onlookers must watch the disgusting sight a bit longer.