WOODVILLE — Voters will head to the polls in Wilkinson County today for the special general election to choose between challenger Calvin Gaines and incumbent Sheriff Reginald “Pip” Jackson.

But as recently as Monday, the results of the primary were contested — and reversed in the case of Kirk Smith v. Richard Hollins.

Smith, a supervisor candidate, and Circuit Clerk Mon Cree Allen both filed contests against the certified primary results. Though in no ways political allies — Smith’s contest petition even alleges a conspiracy involving Allen — both Allen and Smith alleged improper voting practices and fraud happened during the election.

Smith lost the election by 29 votes to Supervisor Richard Hollins, and Allen lost the election by 506 votes to challenger Lynn Tolliver Delaney.

Old inter-committee rivalries within the Wilkinson County Democratic Executive Committee dominated the proceedings for the entire day, and played out right to the end of court. For months, the committee was split along two lines, those who acknowledged Ann Greer as chair and those who acknowledged Easter Prater as chair. After a court order, Greer was appointed co-chair of the committee, and the Prater faction is now essentially headed by co-chair Elmo Ross.

After hearing Smith’s arguments, those who essentially make up the so-called Greer faction voted to reverse the election. Those who essentially make up the so-called Prater faction refused to vote on the action, sources from the courthouse said.

Those who make up the Greer faction also voted to deny to hear Allen’s contest and voted to adjourn, while those who make up the Prater faction stayed in the courtroom and voted to simply adjourn without taking action, sources said.

The hearings first started at approximately 10 a.m. and ran until after 8 p.m.

The hearing did not begin well.

When one of the committee’s co-secretaries began a roll call, a number of the committee members — aligned with the so-called “Prater faction” — refused to answer because the other co-secretary was not involved in the roll taking.

Those same members also refused to be seated.

After heated disagreement about whether or not Greer should be allowed to conduct the meeting, Greer suggested someone else be appointed moderator for the meeting.

It was suggested members Joe Rollins and Henrietta Carr be appointed the co-moderators for the meeting, a suggestion Carr declined because she felt it would be outside the court ruling earlier this year that forcefully united the two factions of the committee.

When the issue came to a vote, members were asked to stand, a problem compounded by the fact that other members of the committee were never seated. While the secretary attempted to count those standing, some members of the committee yelled out random numbers. All totaled, the motion received 34 votes for and no votes against because those opposed to the motion abstained from voting.

Rollins attempted to conduct the meeting, but was unable to do so because of the yelling in the courtroom, which at one point resulted in a member of the committee yelling out about their hatred of members of another race.

Eventually, at the request of attorney Carroll Rhodes, those involved called Johnson, who told them to abide by the court order that Greer and Ross co-chair.

At that point, member Suzy Daughdrill made a motion that the attorneys involved in the contest be limited in how long their presentations could be, a motion that was eventually withdrawn when Rhodes said he needed to make a motion before the committee that could possibly disqualify some of them.

Rhodes agued that because 17 of the members of the committee were represented by attorney Mike Allred in past — and, he contended, pending — litigation, and because Allred represented Smith until the court deemed it a conflict of interest, those 17 members should recuse themselves from the hearing.

“Because Allred represented Kirk Smith and the Wilkinson County Democratic Executive Committee, it is clear those 17 people cannot be fair and impartial,” Rhodes said. “Their lawyer is saying the election was not fair and impartial. If (they) participate, there is the inference the committee has not been fair and impartial.”

Rhodes asked those 17 members to recuse themselves only from the Smith matter.

At that point, Allred tried to address those present, but was shouted down.

None of the 17 members recused themselves from the hearing.