Municipal election to be Tuesday
Published 2:32 am Sunday, May 31, 2009
On Tuesday, registered voters in the City of Picayune will have the opportunity to elect a new mayor and decide which two people will represent precincts two and three.
Mayoral candidates include Democrat Ezell Lee and Republican Ed Pinero. Candidates running for the precinct two position are the incumbent Donald Parker, a Democrat, and Lynn Bogan Bumpers, who is running without party affiliation.
Lee won the Democratic position in the general election when he beat Mark Thorman in the May 19 runoff election.
The race in precinct three is a replay of the Republican primary in that district, so there will be restrictions on who can vote in the race. Incumbent Anna Turnage and Jason Todd Lane face off once again because of faulty voter rolls causing some voters to be denied the right to vote in the original primary election on May 5. Also, since there is no Democratic or independent candidates for the council seat in this district, whoever wins the Republican primary will represent that district on the city council.
In the new primary, only voters who either voted Republican in the May 5 primary or did not vote at all in either the May 5 primary or in the Democratic mayoral runoff on May 19, will be allowed to vote. Any resident who voted Democratic in either the May 5, primary or in the runoff on May 19 will be allowed to vote on the general election ballot, but not the ballot in the new primary for precinct three, City Clerk Priscilla Daniel said. That limitation will be imposed only on voters who live in precinct three.
In precinct three, there will be two ballots — the new primary election ballot between Turnage and Lane, and the general election ballot. On the general election ballot, voters can vote for a candidate in any party, no matter which candidate they voted for in the previous elections.
Light turnout was reported in both previous elections.
"We hope to see a huge turnout for all concerned," Daniel said. "I want to see the people of Picayune show some interest."
Daniel said the problem that led to the new primary election in precinct three, inaccurate voter rolls, has been resolved and, to the best of her knowledge, the same problem that plagued the May 5 primary will not occur on Tuesday. In the event of a tie between Turnage and Lane, the winner will be chosen by a coin flip or by drawing lots.
Polling places are at the following locations: Residents who live in precinct one will vote at Fire Station one on Adcox Road; Voters who live in precinct two will vote at the Police Station located on South Main Street; Precinct three residents will vote at the National Guard Armory on U.S. 11; Precinct four voters will cast their ballots at South Side Lower Elementary, and Precinct five voters will vote at the Picayune Memorial High School auditorium on Goodyear Boulevard.
Voters should be aware that if for some reason they are told that they are in the wrong precinct when in fact they are in the right precinct, they have the right to request an affidavit ballot, Daniel said.
Residents who are unsure of which council district they live in can download a map of the districts in .pdf format from http://www.picayune.ms.us/council.htm. Simply click on the image of the map and accept the download. Adobe Reader is required to view .pdf files. A free version of Adobe Reader can be found at http://get.adobe.com/reader/.
Daniel said candidates are not to campaign within 150 feet of an entrance to a polling place. Signs, shirts, or other political material are to be kept 30 feet from the entrance of a polling place. Candidates casting a ballot are to go in and vote and then leave the polling place.
If a candidate wants to place a poll watcher at a polling place, the proposed poll watcher's name should submitted in writing to Daniel by Monday.
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