WOODVILLE — More candidates have filed to examine the ballot boxes from the June 24 special Democratic primary election in Wilkinson County.

Wilkinson County Circuit Clerk Mon Cree Allen, District 2 Supervisor Richard Hollins and Sheriff Reginald “Pip” Jackson filed motions to examine the boxes Wednesday night.

Hollins and Jackson wanted to examine the boxes Wednesday when representatives for sheriff candidate Jesse Stewart and supervisor candidate Kirk Smith were conducting their own examinations, but Judge Jim Persons ruled they did not have any right to examine the boxes Wednesday.

Both Hollins and Jackson were the declared winners in the primary.

Hollins won the primary by 29 votes, while Jackson carried it by 63 votes.

Circuit clerk challenger Lynn Tolliver Delaney surpassed Allen’s total vote count by 506 votes.

No one has alleged any wrongdoing at this point, but because there are a number of ways in which paper ballots can be improperly completed, Allen wants to examine them, his attorney Deborah McDonald said.

“My client lost a lot of votes in the paper ballots, and we’re just doing this to make sure he gets all the votes he is entitled to,” McDonald said.

The ballot examination by Stewart and Smith’s representatives continued Thursday, and Allen, Hollins and Jackson’s examination is scheduled for Saturday.

Persons called the special primary in February after an election contest that lasted months.

The new election was called because of concerns about the reliability of the paper ballots from the August 2007 election and the security surrounding them between the time of the election and the beginning of the contest in November.

Allen, Hollins and Jackson filed the contest after a one-vote majority of the Wilkinson County Democratic Executive Committee voted to throw out all paper ballots from the August 2007 Democratic primary after allegations of fraud in the paper ballots were brought before them.

Allen, Hollins and Jackson were the declared winners until that point, but when the paper ballots were thrown out Delaney, Smith and Stewart were declared the winners.

The official vote count for the June special election was certified June 25.