The special election for Itta Bena’s disputed mayoral and Ward 1 alderman seats will be held March 8.
The date was announced in an order issued by Special Circuit Court Judge Jeff Weill Sr., who is overseeing the election contests. The order was signed by Weill and filed in the Leflore County Circuit Court Monday.
On the ballot as candidates for mayor will be Reginald Freeman, the incumbent, and Patricia Young, according to the order.
In Ward 1, incumbent Jennifer Walker and JoAnn Purnell will be on the ballot.
Freeman and Walker won by narrow margins in the June 8 municipal election.
Young, the mayoral runner-up, and Purnell, the former Ward 1 incumbent who lost her seat to Walker, each filed lawsuits disputing the results of the election. Both alleged various types of voting fraud and irregularities.
During a three-day trial for Young’s election contest in October, Leflore County Circuit Clerk Stockstill said he was never informed of Itta Bena’s annexation of a portion of land along County Road 507, or Sunflower Road, in 2014.
The circuit clerk testified that he only became aware of the annexation a day after last year’s municipal election. This meant he never knew to make adjustments to the Statewide Election Management System to add residents of the annexed area to the city’s pollbooks so each could be assigned to a ward.
About 100 affidavit ballots were cast during last year’s election, which Stockstill had described as “uncalled for in a small municipality like this.”
The annexation issue was the prime reason Weill issued a court order in November vacating the results of the election for the mayoral and Ward 1 alderman seats and to have a special election for these two positions.
A trial was never held for Purnell’s election dispute.
Since then, Itta Bena officials have voted to incorporate the annexed area into Ward 1.
Stockstill said Tuesday that he is “trying to get everything going to satisfy the court’s order,” which includes a training session with poll workers scheduled for Feb. 10 at the Brazil Center.
- Contact Gerard Edic at 581-7239 or gedic@gwcommonwealth.com.
