Itta Bena's election results for mayor and Ward 4 alderman were overturned Friday after it was found that some vote totals had been recorded incorrectly after the polls closed Tuesday.
A bailiff read the Ward 4 numbers backward for those races, said Juvernia Robinson, chairman of the election commission. Each candidate was mistakenly given votes that should have gone to his or her opponent, he said.
Under the final certified totals, J.D. Brasel defeated incumbent Thelma Collins in the mayor's race, 278 votes to 268, and Donald Fulgham retained his Ward 4 seat, collecting 155 votes to Willie Dean's 50.
In the unofficial numbers originally reported, Collins was shown to have defeated Brasel 355 to 170 and Dean had 143 votes to Fulgham's 50.
In addition to correcting the errors, the final numbers reflect the addition of absentee and curbside ballots.
Robinson said the errors were found Friday during canvassing. He called this an isolated incident and said the town had not had this kind of problem in the past.
Collins said Saturday that she wouldn't decide until Monday whether to challenge the results.
Collins said she left town after the election thinking she had won. On Friday, while on the road, she received a call saying that her lead had dwindled.
Then, she said, when she returned to Itta Bena later that day, she was told that she had lost. By then, the boxes had been sealed and the results had been certified.
Collins said she doesn't feel bad for herself because she has other things she can do. However, she said she feels bad for the citizens and predicted that some things she wanted to do for Itta Bena won't be done now.
"I'm very committed, and if that commitment is not enough for them, they will have to accept whatever their choice is," she said.
She said she also was disappointed with the low turnout.
"If that few voted, obviously they did not want to see the progress that has been going on in Itta Bena," she said.
Collins said many who don't understand how the government works have blamed her for problems beyond her control, such as utility bills.
Brasel had no comment on the change in results, but he said he was looking forward to making needed changes in the town, such as an improved sewer system.
"I'm going to do what the citizens of Itta Bena want done," he said.
Fulgham said he knew Tuesday night that the totals had been read incorrectly and mentioned it to Robinson. The Ward 4 numbers were read from left to right when they should have been read from right to left, he said.
Robinson said he listened to this comment and responded that the commission would check on it during canvassing.
The law requires that canvassing be done within five days. Robinson said Friday was selected as the day because he was to be out of town Wednesday and Thursday.
Fulgham said he is looking forward to "going back to work and finishing what we started." He said he plans to work hard for all the citizens, whether they voted for him or not.
Dean said he didn't know about the change in results until Friday evening. He said he heard earlier in the week that there had been complaints about the totals but wasn't notified that they would be re-counted Friday.
Dean said any question about the results should have been resolved sooner, with the aldermen, election commissioners and poll workers present.
He had furnished his work phone number, and they could have reached him, he said.
"I think the city of Itta Bena and the Election Commission owe me an apology," he said.
The outcomes of the other races were not affected. In Ward 2, Lousia Grantham won a second term, defeating George Copprue. Mary Hines was unopposed in Ward 1, and Allene Fitts was unopposed for the at-large seat.
