Both of the following are true statements:
“The Leflore County Democratic Executive Committee has declared Anjuan Brown the true winner of the Democratic nomination for District 3 supervisor.”
“The Leflore County Democratic Executive Committee has declared Preston Ratliff the true winner of the Democratic nomination for District 3 supervisor.”
Don’t try to logically reconcile those seeming impossibilities; your head might explode.
Suffice it to say, a political circus played out under the big top of the Leflore County Courthouse Wednesday and a lot of strange things happened.
• A voter testified a candidate paid him $7 or $8 to cast a ballot for him.
• An attorney yelled and waved papers at voters as they entered the building.
• A candidate physically blocked elevator access.
• A lawyer got called from the witness stand to another courtroom, where a judge threatened to find him in contempt of court.
nA member of a panel tasked with impartially declaring a winner in District 3 clapped her hands and nodded vigorously in agreement as one side’s attorney made points during closing arguments.
If you missed it, the show will be in town for at least another week: A hearing is set for 11 a.m. Sept. 15 before Circuit Judge Ashley Hines.
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One faction of the warring Democratic Party met at 8 a.m. and found Brown to still be the winner of the Aug. 2 primary, as it had earlier certified.
That group included Larry Griggs, who has been appointed acting chairman by Secretary Latrinda Walker, Treasurer Catherine Climons and Anthony Gilmore.
Brown attended the hearing with his attorney, Sam Begley of Jackson, but not Ratliff.
In Ratliff’s absence, the party officials read his election challenge alleging fraud in the Aug. 2 primary. Following a contentious campaign, Ratliff, a one-term incumbent, had led by 41 votes following the machine count but lost the race based on Brown’s large number of absentee votes.
Ratliff alleges, among other problems, that many voters who marked on their absentee ballots that they would be out of town on Election Day were not actually away from Leflore County on Aug. 2 and never intended to be.
After Griggs finished reading the document, he had Brown’s side respond.
Begley said Brown denies the fraud allegations, which he said were “broad-brush” and without specific proof. He said neither his side’s examination of the ballot boxes nor Brown’s on-the-ground observations on Election Day showed any signs of misconduct.
“There may be one, two, three or more absentee ballots that can be scrutinized as to whether they should or should not have been counted. That happens in every election. We don’t think that’s sufficient to determine the outcome,” Begley said.
The committee then met privately and quickly rendered a decision in Brown’s favor.
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The second faction of the Democratic Executive Committee was slated to meet at 9 a.m., but before that could happen, a confrontation occurred in the courthouse lobby.
Begley handed copies of an order from Hines quashing subpoenas requiring absentee voters to appear before the second committee and told them they didn’t have to come.
Ratliff and Fred Clark, a Greenwood attorney, ushered voters and party officials to an elevator.
Begley told Ratliff that he could be a party to contempt of court if he helped carry out unlawful subpoenas. Ratliff ignored him, but the two later clashed at the elevator.
Begley tried to follow someone inside, and Ratliff blocked the door with his arm. Begley then touched Ratliff, which he said was on accident.
“You’re a bigger man than I am, and you could probably knock the hell out of me,” the attorney told Ratliff.
A Ratliff supporter, Jonathan Hopkins, then stepped between them.
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Jesse Ross, who said he was the party’s chairman, opened the 9 a.m. meeting by calling roll. Eight of the committee’s 30 members were present: Mayrene Jones, Vernita Woodfork, Ethel Hemphill, Preston Ratliff, Jackie Ratliff, Belinda Robinson, the Rev. Johnny Collins and Arance Williamson.
Ross picked Jones, Woodfork and Collins to serve on a three-person panel to hear the case.
Ratliff was represented by his attorney, Willie Perkins of Greenwood. Brown didn’t attend, but Begley was there only to object to the legality of the meeting. He said Brown wasn’t served proper notice.
Clark testified about more than 20 voters he spoke to who admitted to not being out of town on Election Day and never intending to go out of town. He said at least two absentee voters told him they had been paid to vote, one $7 or $8 and the other $30.
One of those voters, Willie Brown, testified that he was sitting under a tree when Anjuan Brown approached campaigning and that Willie Brown asked him for some money. Willie Brown said Anjuan Brown then paid him $7 or $8.
After testimony from Ratliff and several other voters who said they weren’t actually out of town on Election Day, Perkins gave a closing statement. He said voters were given money to vote and told to lie about where they would be on Election Day.
He said the committee should put a halt to such actions and say “not in Leflore County.”
“It’s a shame and disgrace,” he said of the alleged fraud.
Jones, a member of the three-member panel, nodded her head and clapped her hands together several times in approval.
The panel then met through lunch along with Ross, Williamson and Hemphill. Ross announced at 1:45 p.m. that they found “numerous irregularities, fraud and willful violations of Mississippi election law” occurred with the absentee ballots. The committee threw out those ballots, making Ratliff the winner.
A celebration erupted in the courtroom. Supporters congratulated Ratliff, including Willie Brown, who had testified about being paid to vote.
Immediately after the announcement, Begley passed out notice of the hearing before Hines.
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This morning, the Griggs-led faction met again, reaffirming its determination of Brown as the winner.
At the same time it was meeting, Chancellor Catherine Farris-Carter held a hearing regarding an order requiring the Democrats to file proper five-day notice with all parties before holding meetings regarding the election challenge.
That order had prevented a planned meeting by Griggs’ group on Aug. 30.
Farris-Carter said case law clearly states that circuit court decides election disputes and that Hines would take up the matter of which Democratic faction’s nomination is the real one.
She said she was only considering whether party officials followed procedures. Begley has filed a petition with the state Supreme Court saying Farris-Carter never should have been involved in the case.
A response is due from Perkins today.
Farris-Carter found Griggs, Climons and Walker in contempt of court for having their meeting Wednesday without giving Ratliff proper notice. Begley said they tried to notify Ratliff but he left the county.
The chancellor fined Griggs, Climons and Walker $1, saying she could have done more but understood the tensions associated with an election contest and didn’t want to pour salt on the wound.
The ultimate decision of the winner will be made in circuit court, she said. That person will face independent Charles McCain Jr. in the Nov. 8 general election.
Absentee balloting begins Sept. 24.
• Contact Charlie Smith at csmith@gwcommonwealth.com.
