Tate County voters in the newly drawn Mississippi Senate District 1 and District 11 will head to the polls Tuesday, Aug. 5, to vote in a Special Party Primary Elections.
This special election is the result of redrawing district line in Tate County following the growth of Northwest Mississippi and the depopulation of the Mississippi Delta.
Even though voters just participated in statewide elections in 2023, a panel of three federal judges determined that portions of the map lawmakers used in that election diluted Black voting strength. The panel ordered the state to redraw certain areas of the map.
Tuesday’s Party Primary Special Election will see District 1 Republicans vote for either incumbent Michael W. McClendon or challenger Jon Stevenson for State Senator. The winner of Tuesday’s race will face Democrat Chris Hanna in the November General Election. Hanna is unopposed in the primary.
In District 11, Democratic challenger Abe Hudson, Jr. faces off against incumbent Reginald Jackson in their primary. The winner of that race takes on Republican Kendall Prewitt in the General Election in November.
“The precincts you vote in have not changed,” said Tate County Circuit Clerk Kendra Blount. “Redistricting has only changed which Mississippi Senate candidate you vote for.
“We did mail notices to every household involved in the redistricting, trying to explain this special election,” said Blount. “Our office is glad to answer any questions people have about voting. It’s what the Circuit Clerk does.”
Blount said her office can be reached at 662-562-5211 during regular office hours.
Blount also said Poll Managers at each precinct can help voters. She said all a voter needs to do is present a legal form of identification and give their address.
“We’ve got a good group of poll workers,” said Blount. “This election will involve six precincts with about five poll workers at each precinct.”
State law says candidates were to submit their first campaign finance report listing donor contributions and expenditures to the Secretary of State Michael Watson by March 25, a second one by April 25 and a final one July 27. Campaign Finance reports are public record and failure to file can result in $50 fines accruing daily and the State Attorney General shall file suit and prosecute the delinquent candidate and appropriate political committee.
Mississippi Code § 23-15-811 states that persons who fail to file campaign finance disclosures “shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine in a sum not to exceed Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00) or imprisoned for not longer than six (6) months or by both fine and imprisonment.”
The statute goes on to note that, “No candidate who is elected to office shall receive any salary or other remuneration for the office until he or she files all reports required by this article that are due as of the date the salary or remuneration is payable.”
The law also disqualifies a candidate who has not filed campaign finance reports from the ballot.
Candidates for state office must also clear up any outstanding fines, taxes or warrants from the state and in the district they represent.
All candidates must be qualified voters of the district they represent and must not have been convicted of certain felonies that resulted in incarceration, unless they have received a full pardon from the State of Mississippi. Candidates who have been pardoned must present that proof to their respective party and the City Clerk to qualify. Convicted felons wishing to receive a pardon must wait seven years before having their voting rights restored.
Candidates must also have lived in the district they represent for the past two years and be able to prove that fact through voter registration rolls, Mississippi driver’s license or homestead exemption. Fraudulent filing of homestead exemption is a federal tax offense.
Candidates cannot have been legally declared mentally incompetent.
