Voter registration deadline nears for District 32 special election

Thomas Howard, The Meridian Star, Miss.
·2 min read

Sep. 27—Update: The Lauderdale County Circuit Clerk's Office will not be open Saturday, Oct. 2 for voter registration. Circuit Clerk Donna Jill Johnson said the additional hours have been canceled.

Residents planning to vote in the Nov. 2 special election for Senate District 32 have one week left to make sure their voter registration is up to date. The deadline to register to vote is 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 4.

The Lauderdale County Circuit Clerk's office is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Voter registration is accepted at any time. The office was scheduled to be be open from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Oct. 2 to give residents an opportunity to register to vote outside of regular business hours, however, Circuit Clerk Donna Jill Johnson said the additional hours have been canceled.

For those unable to go to the courthouse to register, mail-in voter registration forms are available online at yallvote.ms. The forms, which must be postmarked by October 4, can be used to register or update an existing registration with a new address. Additionally, residents can check their voter registration status at yallvote.ms to make sure their information is correct.

In Lauderdale County, 14 of the county's 40 voting precincts fall in Senate District 32, which also covers parts of Kemper, Noxubee and Winston counties. Voters can check their voter registration card to see which precinct they are in. Precincts in Senate District 32 include: Five, West Dalewood, Six, Fourteen, Daleville, East Lauderdale, Marion, Three, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven and Twelve.

Voters will have nine candidates to choose from to replace Sen. Sampson Jackson, who served in the seat for almost 30 years before retiring earlier this year. Candidates do not declare party affiliation in special elections, and no party information is included on the ballot.

Candidates appearing on the ballot are:

—W.J. Coleman, a Baptist minister from Louisville;

—Stan Copeland, a member of the Northwest Kemper Water Association Board of Directors from Preston;

—James Creer, a member of the Kemper County Board of Education;

—Minh Duong, an optometrist from Meridian;

—Kim Houston, a former Ward 4 Meridian City Councilwoman;

—Rod Hickman, a county prosecutor in Noxubee County Justice Court;

—Justin Curtis Creer, a former Kemper County Supervisor for District 3;

—Keith Jackson, the son of retired Sen. Sampson Jackson; and,

—Bradley Joseph Sudduth, an insurance agent from Meridian.

If no candidate wins a majority of the vote, a runoff election will be held November 23 for the two candidates with the most votes.