Election results in the June 6 Itta Bena mayoral race are being contested in court by candidate William McGee.
A petition filed on June 26 alleges numerous irregularities in the vote tallying process in the race between J.D. Brasel and McGee.
Brasel, a former mayor and alderman-at-large for the last four years, was declared the winner by a narrow margin. Certified results on June 8 showed Brasel with 161 votes and McGee with 151.
Brasel could not be reached for comment.
McGee and his attorney, Margarette Meeks of Jackson, filed a petition at the Leflore County Circuit Clerk’s Office on Monday, claiming irregularities in the vote tallying process. That petition has been relayed to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which will appoint a judge to hear the case under Mississippi statutes.
Meeks said a judge will likely be appointed today or Thursday, due to the timeliness of election cases. Mayor Thelma Collins is due to step down as of Saturday.
Meeks reviewed the ballot boxes at the Itta Bena Town Hall on June 19 and 20 and said she observed a number of irregularities in the process.
“Municipal election officials illegally deprived (McGee) of 14 lawful votes in Ward 1 alone,” the petition said.
Opening and closing tapes for voting machines in Ward 3 were missing, according to the petition, and none of the four ballot boxes contained any applications for absentee ballots, though 19 were accepted.
Mississippi Code 23-15-951 outlines requirements for absentee ballots that the petition says were not followed by Itta Bena’s election commissioners.
None of those commissioners — Mary Hines, Patricia Collins and Elsie Harris — could be reached for comment on the review of the ballot boxes.
The petition further alleges that the ballot boxes in Itta Bena were not sealed as required by law when Meeks reviewed them.
Meeks said McGee, Brasel, Itta Bena Alderman Mildred Miller and City Clerk Edna Beverly were present when she examined the boxes.
McGee, a retiree and first-time candidate for public office, said he had planned to simply continue volunteering in the community and “pull the covers over my head” for a while after the initial totals were released. But his supporters urged him to look into the results.
“The community was not pleased with it,” he said. “They told me not to accept such a close run. Most of my supporters said, ‘Willie, that’s too close.’”
McGee asked Meeks, whom he knew from a previous association, to look into the matter.
Meeks said she has conducted reviews like this in the past, and this is the first time she has found no applications for the absentee ballots.
“I also found it strange that the boxes were not properly sealed,” Meeks said. “When I arrived, the four boxes for the four wards were on the table, and they did not contain the seals with serial numbers that are normally there to make sure there is no tampering.”
When Meeks asked for the log sheet that shows who has gone in and out of the boxes from election day on, she was told by Beverly that there was no log sheet.
Mississippi statutes say that cases like this are to be heard by a trial jury. Brasel can file a cross-complaint if desired and will be required to answer as he is named the defendant on the petition.
McGee said he wants a fair and accurate count of the vote.
“Voting is one of our most sacred rights,” he said. “We need to make sure the election process is done properly.”
• Contact Kathryn Eastburn at 581-7235 or keastburn@gwcommonwealth.com.
Election challenge lawsuit
