Elmus Stockstill has twice unsuccessfully run for the office of Leflore County Circuit clerk.
This year, Stockstill, 38, said is his year to win the office despite a crowded field of contenders.
“I do not take opportunities such as this for granted. Tonight, I formally announce my candidacy for the Leflore County Circuit clerk position,” Stockstill told a small but loyal crowd at the Greenwood Voters League Wednesday night.
“As most of you may well know, I have worked tirelessly serving the constituents of the Second Congressional District for Congressman Bennie Thompson.”
Stockstill serves as office manager and field representative with Thompson’s Greenwood District Office.
Stockstill, a Democrat, faces two candidates in the party’s Aug. 2 primary, Jackie Harris-Littleton and Larry “Blue” Neal.
If Stockstill prevails, he faces four independents in the general election Nov. 8, including Mary Rice-Roberson, Curtis Coates, Dennis Barlow Jr. and William H. Lott.
Being a congressional staffer is just one of Stockstill’s occupations.
He has served as an adjunct professor of criminal justice at Mississippi Valley State University for the past seven years. He also serves as vice mayor of Itta Bena and as an at-large alderman with the Itta Bena Board of Aldermen.
Each of those jobs, he said, has prepared and tempered him “for the task at hand, to serve as the next circuit clerk of Leflore County.”
Stockstill said he has developed a reputation of building relationships, adding, “I have been blessed to work with some of the top officials in the state of Mississippi, local, county and state.”
He noted that he has met most members of the Congressional Black Caucus as well as President Barack Obama while he was a U.S. Senator from Illinois.
Stockstill said he was named the 2007 Omega Man of the Year. He was also named the 2010 Citizen of the Year Award by Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc. “I’ve been putting in my duty and service for a long time,” he said.
Stockstill said he intends to make changes if he is elected circuit clerk.
He advocated an “open system of management, where employees are trained in a variety of tasks. Now what do I mean by that? Basically, I mean that these guys should be doing more multi-tasking. Everybody should know each other’s job, so if someone is absent, another person can step in,” Stockstill said.
He also vowed to make the clerk’s office more “people friendly.”
“This basically means customer service. You want to make sure that you are greeted with a smile and that you leave with a smile,” he said.
Stockstill said training for poll managers and poll workers would be a top priority in his office. He said training for such workers should occur three to four times per year instead of just once or twice.
On the use of printers with touchscreen voting machines, Stockstill said he would meet with a cross section of poll managers and the Election Commission to see if a problem exists.
Based upon the consensus of that meeting, he said he’d either continue their use or seek U.S. Justice Department approval to dispense with them.
He said providing student internships as poll workers, poll managers as well as for other positions at the clerk’s office is another priority. Stockstill said a 1996 stint as an intern with Thompson helped him prepare for life as an adult.
The candidate said he’d like to institute a program to educate potential jurors on the importance of jury service.
He said he wanted to develop a closer relationship with the Leflore County Election Commission, which conducts and certifies election results.
Stockstill said the office also needs to work across racial and party lines to help ensure “good, honest elections.”
• Contact Bob Darden at bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
