By Megan Ashley Fink

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ — Incumbent Sen. Melanie Sojourner says reports she has conceded the election for the District 37 state senate seat are false.

“We haven’t conceded, but we acknowledge that we’re 50-60 votes shy … based on the numbers from (Wednesday) evening, which still didn’t include Franklin County,” said Sojourner, R-Natchez.

Several third-party groups are investigating the voting procedures of some precincts, Sojourner said.

“Several different groups of people (are looking at) problematic precincts, and they’ll just let me know what they decide and what avenue they want to proceed,” she said.

Sojourner declined to name the third parties looking into voting procedures and which precincts are in question.

Sojourner said the integrity of the election is paramount to her.

“We’re pausing for a few days to ensure everything is accurate,” she said.

Adams County Election Commissioner Larry Gardner said it is not unusual for an investigation into such a close race, but said he was unaware of any issues with the election.

“As far as I know, we didn’t have any issues in Adams County that would make her think there are more votes that she could or would have gotten,” Gardner said.

Adams County was unlikely to be the source of any election inconsistencies, Gardner said, because there were no precincts from any other senate districts.

“Maybe she knows something I don’t know, but we didn’t have any issues during the election, and there were no splits in the senate races in this county,” Gardner said.

Sojourner’s opponent, former District 37 Democratic Sen. Bob Dearing, said he did not think there are any grounds for the election to be contested.

“I have no idea what she’s talking about … the poll workers did an excellent job, and they deserve a tremendous tip of my hat to them,” he said.

Dearing said he expects to serve another term as senator and is looking forward to beginning his term in January.

Sojourner said she was taking a back seat while more information is gathered.

“I’ll just sit here and wait,” she said.