Jackson Jambalaya

The candidacy of two candidates for Hinds County Election Commissioner in Wards 2 and 5 remained in limbo yesterday when the Hinds County Board of Supervisors took no action after an hour of discussion that was rather colorful and heated in nature. Bobbie Graves and Blonda Mack appealed to the board after they turned in their qualifying papers to the chancery clerk the day after the deadline. (The video below is quite entertaining. Earlier post).



The Mississippi Code states:

Candidates for county election commissioner shall qualify by filing with the clerk of the board of supervisors of their respective counties a petition personally signed by not less than fifty (50) qualified electors of the supervisors district in which they reside, requesting that they be a candidate, by 5:00 p.m. not later than the first Monday in June of the year in which the election occurs and unless the petition is filed within the required time, their names shall not be placed upon the ballot. All candidates shall declare in writing their party affiliation, if any, to the board of supervisors, and such party affiliation shall be shown on the official ballot.

The petition shall have attached thereto a certificate of the registrar showing the number of qualified electors on each petition, which shall be furnished by the registrar on request." Section 23-25-213 of the Mississippi Code

Board attorney Crystal Wise Martin told the board there were no Mississippi Supreme Court decisions that dealt with this issue. She said there were two circuit cases from Washington and Simpson counties involving similar situations where there was a "timely filing in the circuit clerk's office but an untimely filing within the chancery clerk's. In both opinions the circuit court said there should be a substantial compliance standard applied to this particular statute and not a mandatory compliance."* The candidates in those cases were placed on the ballot.

Ms. Martin said she had drafted a letter requesting an opinion from the Attorney General but would not submit it unless the board directed her to do so. Supervisor Phil Fisher said the Board delayed action two weeks ago because Ms. Martin said she would obtain an opinion. She said the statute was clear and interpreting it was "within the board's discretion." She told Mr. Fisher "it was within the board's discretion to decide whether to apply a substantial compliance standard to its interpretation of the statute." Mr. Fisher shot back "the statute specifically states a date and time" to which Ms. Martin agreed. However, she then replied "the board is within its power to interpret the statute." The Ward 4 Supervisor said if it was "ok to be one day late, why not five days or ten days or twenty days?" Ms. Martin said "this was a decision for the board to decide.

Ward 5 Supervisor Kenneth Stokes jumped in and moved to open up the qualifying deadline for "everyone." The motion later died for lack of a second. He said the "best thing to do and be a win-win for everybody was to open it up" for everyone. Supervisor Fisher said it was the candidate's responsibility to know the law. Mr. Stokes had Eneva Pittman address the board. She attempted to qualify but several of her signatures were rejected after it was found they either did not live in the district or were registered voters. Mr. Stokes again attempted to reopen qualifying so she could resubmit her entire petition and signatures (15:35).

Ms. Graves and her attorney addressed the board. Warren Martin told the board the constitution "trumps" the statute and cited Article VI, Section 157:

"SECTION 157. Exclusive jurisdiction of chancery court; transfer.

All causes that may be brought in the circuit court whereof the
chancery court has exclusive jurisdiction shall be transferred to the
chancery court."

Mr. Martin said if the board did not place Ms. Graves on the ballot, there would be legal "implications". He said the constitution directed the circuit clerk to transfer Ms. Grave's petition to the chancery clerk and the board should place "little credence" on the statute.

Ward 4 Election Commissioner Cochran pointedly told the board (26:00) Ms. Graves "qualified four years ago" and she has had four years to learn the procedures. "The statute is so very clear, 5:00, June 4, and it specifically says the chancery clerk's office." "You are usurping the law if you allow this to go on." Mr. Stokes said the "only win-win in this was to open it up for everyone."

Supervisor Peggy Hobson-Calhoun moved for Graves, Pittman, and Mack to be placed on the ballot (35:00). Mr. Stokes seconded the motion. She said she included Ms. Pittman in her motion because she was not notified by the circuit clerk's office that her signatures were withdrawn. Mr. Fisher asked if the motion was putting on the ballot three people who did not meet the deadline. Ms. Hobson-Calhoun said they "submitted the information in a timely manner" but it was submitted to the "wrong office" and the information "should have been forwarded" to the chancery clerk. She told Mr. Fisher the law from the Mississippi constitution provided the justification for her motion.

Ms. Dunn told this correspondent her office does not forward petitions to the chancery clerk and has not done so since the law changed in. She said the AG's gave her a verbal opinion that the candidates were responsible submitting the petition to the chancery clerk.

Mr. Stokes again urged the board to open the qualifying "for everyone" so Ms. Pittman could get her fifty names. Ms. Hobson-Calhoun again defended Ms. Pittman, stating she was not notified some of her signatures were disqualified.

Supervisor Phil Fisher said "this whole idea of changing dates of when you can qualify is disgraceful. To vote on this today is a slap in the face of a system we should all respect... For anyone to see you can file after the fact says you can open every election to the same standard... Why even worry about the deadline. Just wait a couple of days, think it through a little bit more, and then go file."

The Ward 4 Supervisor then directed his comments towards the board attorney: "And it is setting these precedents because an attorney has an opinion of a Mississippi Constitution statute that has no place in this and I hope it is tested in court." Mr. Fisher then asked Warren Martin if he was related to anyone in the room. Mr. Stokes mockingly said "he's my cousin" as the rest of the room erupted in laughter and taunting from the black members of the audience. Supervisor Graham interrupted him at this point and asked him to keep his comments to the issue. Mr. Fisher ignored him and repeated the question. Mr. Graham again repeated his warning. Mr. Fisher said "It's Ms. Martin's brother in law". One black lady in the audience said "we all look alike to him." Um, yeah. Mr. Stokes defended the relationship and said just because they were related, there were no "shenanigans".

Supervisor Doug Anderson, whose wife is on the ballot for Ward 2 and would face Ms. Graves, made no comments during the discussion. The motion to certify the three candidates failed on a 4-1 vote. Mr. Fisher then moved to certify those that had qualified for the race but the motion failed. The board thus took no action regarding the placement of Graves and Mack on the ballot.

*It should be pointed out opinions from circuit and chancery courts in other counties are not binding upon Hinds County Courts as are opinions from the Mississippi Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals.