Election notebook
By Staff
Compiled by staff writer Georgia E. Frye
Oct. 31, 2004
Polling places: Lauderdale County precincts will be open on Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. the usual hours for an election. The only change in precinct locations will be in District 4/Precinct 9, where voters usually cast
ballots at Oakland Heights Elementary School. This year, they will vote at Freedom Rock Christian Church, 5718 Fifth St.
Absentee ballots: Lauderdale County voters have cast more than 2,000 absentee ballots for this year's presidential election up from about 1,300 cast in the 2003 statewide elections.
People can cast absentee ballots if they are physically unable to go to the polls on Tuesday, serve overseas in the military, will be outside of the country on election day or are 65 years old or older.
Turnout: If voter turnout in Lauderdale County is high this year, that won't be unusual. During the last presidential election in 2000, 66 percent of the county's 39,231
registered voters cast ballots. In last year's state elections, 55 percent of the 41,242 registered voters cast ballots.
More than 2,000 people in Lauderdale County
registered to vote this year. Lauderdale County currently has 40,421 registered voters.
Supreme Court races: Besides the presidential and U.S. House races, Lauderdale County voters also will choose two members of the Mississippi Supreme Court.
In Supreme Court District 1/Position 1, incumbent William L. "Bill" Waller Jr. will meet "Richard" Ray
Grindstaff. Waller was elected to the state's high court in 1996. Grindstaff is a lawyer who handles family law cases in Byram.
In Supreme Court District 1/Position 2, incumbent James Graves will meet Samac Richardson, Ceola James and William L. "Bill" Skinner. Graves was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2001 by former Gov. Ronnie
Musgrove.
Richardson is senior circuit court judge in Madison and Rankin counties. Skinner is a Hinds County Justice Court judge, and James is a Vicksburg attorney and former chancery court judge.
Voter identification: Circuit Clerk Donna Jill Johnson said voters will not need their voter registration cards or identification to vote on Tuesday. She said only first-time voters who did not register at the courthouse will have to show identification.
Some people may find that their names are not on the poll books when they go to vote on Tuesday because they failed to notify the circuit clerk's office or the
election commissioners of a change of address.
The poll workers are trained to put such voters on the phone with the proper election official to determine if they can vote. If they can, they will be directed to the correct precinct.
