Following three days of court proceedings, no decision was rendered Wednesday as to whether the results of Itta Bena’s mayoral election should be thrown out.
Instead, Judge Jeff Weill, appointed by the state to hear Patricia Young’s challenge of her five-vote loss to Reginald Freeman, told attorneys for both sides to submit proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law, which Weill will review before making his final judgment.
Samuel L. Begley, Young’s attorney, and Kimberly Jones Merchant and Willie Griffin, Freeman’s attorneys, have 14 days from Wednesday’s proceeding to submit their legal arguments to the court.
“Both the petitioner and the respondent offered a considerable amount of testimony and evidence concerning the June 8 election and its aftermath,” Weill said.
Young received 194 votes, or 43% of the total, to Freeman’s 199 votes, or 44%. Young is asking the court to declare her the winner based on the number of legal votes cast — such as only relying on machine count votes, which she believes are reliable, her attorney said — or order a special election.
However, Weill said a “300-pound gorilla” was dropped into the court’s lap and prevented an immediate verdict — the revelation that Itta Bena annexed a chunk of land along County Road 507, also known as Sunflower Road, in 2014 through a chancery court decree.
Typically, and as required by state statute, Itta Bena’s city clerk would inform Leflore County Circuit Court Clerk Elmus Stockstill about the changes made to the town’s boundaries. However, Stockstill, who was called to the witness stand by Freeman’s attorneys, testified Wednesday that he was not informed by Itta Bena of this annexation in 2014.
In fact, Stockstill said he only became aware of it on June 9 of this year — a day after Itta Bena’s municipal election — after receiving information from Tax Assessor Leroy Ware.
Stockstill said that had he been aware in 2014, he would have made adjustments in the Statewide Election Management System so that any voters from the annexed area would appear on Itta Bena’s poll book.
Because that did not happen, however, residents of this annexed area who voted in June did so by affidavit ballots, possibly explaining the high number of affidavit ballots cast.
In response to a question by Weill, Stockstill estimated that the annexed area, which includes two sets of apartments, probably has about 150 people. The circuit clerk said Itta Bena’s election commissioners would assign these annexed residents to one of the town’s four wards, although it is unclear which ward.
When a town’s population shifts, the wards need to be redrawn, but it is unclear whether that was done for Itta Bena, Stockstill said.
“It’s disturbing (that) the clerk estimates there are approximately between 100 and 150 people who were not added to the Itta Bena rolls after annexation, especially when the entire population of Itta Bena is estimated to be about 1,500 people,” Weill said. “The simple math suggests that the total of those disenfranchised voters was in the area of 10 to 20% when only the adult voters are considered.
“Since 2014, there have been at least two municipal election cycles. Further, unless I miss something, Itta Bena failed to redistrict the city and add those voters into city wards. I’m not sure how to consider this disturbing testimony in the context of this election contest, and I would like the attorneys to address that.”
These voters in the annexation area are essentially in a gray zone, the judge added, meaning he must address whether to accept these affidavit ballots.
Samuel L. Begley, attorney for Patricia Young, presents his closing argument. (By Gerard Edic)
During proceedings Monday and Tuesday, Begley called various county and Itta Bena officials to testify, such as members of the town’s resolution board, who canvass and count absentee ballots, in order to explore various irregularities and violations of Mississippi election law that Young’s petition alleges.
During their cross-examination, Freeman’s attorneys were able to dispute some of Young’s allegations, such as the claim that the resolution board members were not trained or that they passed off their duties to the town’s election commissioners.
Griffin, in his closing arguments Wednesday, contended that Young’s allegations of illegal votes being cast needed to be articulated by these alleged voters on the witness stand.
Weill told Griffin to include his arguments about this in his and Merchant’s filing to the court, as well as any applicable case law that would back that up.
- Contact Gerard Edic at 662-581-7239 or gedic@gwcommonwealth.com.
