The end results of Tuesday’s Oktibbeha County Democratic and Republican primaries went unchanged after election officials added about 100 additional affidavit votes to the totals Wednesday.
Officials will certify the results once 12 ballots from voters lacking proper identification are processed, but those votes will not change any of the outcomes.
County election commissioners, along with local party leaders, combed through paper ballots one by one yesterday, slowly determining voters’ addresses and examining each document for errors and omissions.
About 44 ballots were rejected for numerous issues — voters were not registered in the county, cast ballots at the wrong precinct, failed to provide proper information and so on.
Seven of Oktibbeha County’s 21 precincts — Needmore Center, North Starkville 2, North Starkville 3, Oktoc, Osborn, South Starkville and West Starkville — provided the lion’s share of affidavits — about 130 — Tuesday.
Affidavits, election commissioners said, were issued in some precincts after voting machines experienced technical problems. Poll workers at the Sessums precinct switched to emergency paper ballots after encoders stopped working, while heat-related issues affected some Osborn and Starkville machines.
Three of those seven locations — North Starkville 3, Oktoc and Osborn — are at local fire stations; the West Starkville precinct is housed at the National Guard armory on Highway 12 and the South Starkville precinct is located at the Sportsplex.
The updated numbers show about 30 percent of registered county voters turned out for Tuesday’s elections. Officials previously said they hoped turnout would eclipse the 25 percent threshold.
Voters in Tuesday’s Democratic primary re-elected District 1 Justice Court Judge William “Tony” Boykin, District 2 Constable Curtis Randle and District 5 Supervisor Joe Williams to their respective seats. Democrats have another chance to vote as Aug. 25 runoff elections are needed for both District 2’s and District 3’s justice court seats.
No GOP runoffs are needed.
In District 2, incumbent Judge W. Bernard Crump now faces a head-to-head re-election battle against Larnzy Carpenter, a law enforcement veteran of 30 years, after Kennedy Neal, an OCH employee, finished third in Tuesday’s primary.
Carpenter received 747 votes, or 42 percent, Tuesday to Crump’s 595, but a margin of 50 percent plus one vote was needed to avoid an additional election since the race featured a three candidates.
Neal, the hospital’s director of environmental services, received 423 votes.
The runoff will decide this election since no Republicans or independents qualified earlier this year.
Changeover is guaranteed for District 3’s post after long-serving Judge James “Jim” Mills finished third in Tuesday’s primary.
Cheikh Taylor, the executive director of the non-profit Brickfire Project, led his opponents with 32 percent of the vote. He will face C. Martin Haug, the only attorney in either of the three justice court races, in the runoff after Haug finished second with 26 percent.
Former Sturgis Police Chief W.L. Will Hutchinson finished fourth with almost 17 percent of the vote.
The winner of the primary will face independent Hardy Mitchell and Republican Buddy Johnston in November.
Table set for November
With Tuesday’s primaries decided, candidates are now turning their attention to the general election.
After securing the Democratic Party’s nomination, District 2 Supervisor Orlando Trainer will face independent Robert “Bubba” Gray Jr. in November.
Gray and Trainer last locked horns in 2011 when the incumbent won with 67 percent of the overall vote.
District 4’s previous Republican candidate, Miss. Horse Park Director Bricklee Miller, will again face incumbent Daniel Jackson, a Democrat, in the general election.
Miller beat Bart Gregory, a Mississippi State University broadcaster, by about 200 votes in the Republican primary. In 2011, Jackson was re-elected by about 440 votes.
A rematch of 2011’s tightest race — the District 3 showdown between incumbent Marvell Howard, a Democrat, and Republican Dennis “Denny” Daniels — is again expected to be this year’s closest competition.
Howard secured a second term in that election with his three-vote victory over Daniels.
Both men were unopposed Tuesday, as were District 1 Supervisor John Montgomery, a Republican, and his November opponent, Democrat Donald Thompson.
Tuesday’s closest countywide Republican race — the battle for the party’s coroner nomination — ended with Chris Pollan defeating Sturgis Police Chief Kenneth Doug Hamilton by 57 votes.
Pollan, a licensed funeral director and embalmer, will face incumbent Michael Hunt in the general election.
Hamilton’s brother, first-term Republican Circuit Clerk Glenn Hamilton, easily defeated challenger Michael Campbell with 81 percent of the vote.
His general election opponent is E. Regina Evans, a former deputy circuit clerk.
The county’s top law enforcement officer, Sheriff Steve Gladney, faces former Chief Deputy George Carrithers in three months after both men ran unopposed Tuesday.
Both candidates first qualified as Democrats, but Carrithers switched to the GOP before the end of qualification.
Carrithers served as former Sheriff Dolph Bryan’s right-hand man for decades until Gladney defeated the incumbent, who took office in 1976, by about 400 votes in the Democratic Party’s runoff election four years ago.
Gladney won that year’s general election by defeating Republican Rudy Johnson.
Another first-term incumbent, Republican Tax Assessor Allen Morgan, faces a re-election bid.
Morgan, who previously worked for 29 years with the State Tax Commission, is challenged by Democrat John Brown, who has 22 years of public service under his belt.
Neither candidate faced opposition in Tuesday’s primaries.
District 3’s constable seat features a race between long-serving incumbent James Lindsey, a Democrat, and Republican Tim Cook.
Cook, who works as an Oktibbeha County sheriff’s deputy, qualified for District 2’s race, but redistricting showed he now lives in District 3.
Lindsey has run unopposed since 2003.
Again, each candidate was unopposed Tuesday.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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