A judge has overruled a previous ruling that allowed polls in Hinds County to stay open until 8 p.m.
On Tuesday, the Mississippi Democratic Party filed an emergency petition asking the Hinds County Chancery Court to keep polls open an hour longer, saying numerous precincts had run out of ballots.
Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas granted that request shortly after the petition was filed. “It takes time to deliver more ballots to the precincts,” he wrote. “Because of the disruption this has caused, the court grants the motion of the plaintiff to extend the closing hours… to 8 p.m.”
The decision means that results from Mississippi’s largest county will be delayed for at least an hour.
“I don’t think anyone would be upset about delaying the outcome an additional hour or so,” said State Chairman Cheikh Taylor. “We want to make sure that everybody’s vote counts first before we decide whether we’re being impatient about results.”
Voters across Hinds County have been telling WLBT about problems at the polls much of the day. Many of those problems were due to the county running out of or running low on ballots. One precinct was out of ballots around 9 a.m. Tuesday. Another was out of ballots by 11.
Hinds County Election Commissioner Shirley Varnado told WLBT the county ran out due to the high voter turnout. “We’re running ballots as we speak because we’re trying to make sure every voter gets a chance to come out and cast their ballot for the people of their choice,” she said.
A second lawsuit was filed by Mississippi Votes. It claimed the county violated state statute by not having enough ballots on hand to accommodate voters, and was asking for several precincts to remain open after 7 p.m.
According to state code, election officials must provide a “sufficient number” of ballots to serve each precinct.
The group cited “unreasonably long lines and wait times” at multiple polling sites, including Byram City Hall, Northside Baptist Church, Raymond United Methodist Church, and Wildwood Baptist Church.
“Long lines and wait times can prevent voters who intended to vote from successfully casting a ballot. One study estimates that 730,000 eligible voters did not vote in the 2012 election because of long lines and unreasonable wait times at their polling sites,” the suit states.
The Supreme Court has appointed Senior Status Judge Jess Dickinson to preside over that matter.
Circuit Clerk Zack Wallace, who was named as a defendant in both suits, had not seen Thomas’ ruling, saying at the time he was still helping deliver ballots.
Hinds County Administrator Kenny Wayne Jones said the Board of Supervisors “went above and beyond” to ensure the 2023 election was a success and blamed the election commission for Tuesday’s complications.
Said Jones, “It is so disheartening and frustrating that the Hinds County Election Commission would drop the ball to this magnitude on one of the most critical elections in Mississippi history.”
Source : WLBT