Voters in a single precinct will cast ballots for a third time Tuesday to decide the winner of the District 5 South Pike School board seat.
The election is expected to settle a saga that began two years ago when Sam Hall challenged Veronica “Ron” Thomas for the seat and won.
Thomas, the former incumbent, lost to Hall 286-203 in November 2010.
She challenged the election, citing confusion at split precincts and the disenfranchisement of eligible voters who didn’t get correct ballots.
A judge ordered a new election be held in January.
Hall appealed that decision to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which has yet to rule.
In the Jan. 17 election, Hall edged Thomas 169-165.
But 52 paper ballots from Precinct 29 went unsigned by poll workers and were invalidated.
That means voters in Precinct 29 — Joe’s Tractor Co. in McComb — who also live in South Pike’s 5th district will get to vote again.
Election Commissioner Trudy Berger said she contacted the attorney general’s office after discovering that the Precinct 29 ballots had not been initialed and learned that state requires a new election in the precinct.
Precinct 29 has 389 voters qualified to vote in the District 5 school board election.
Only 52 voted in the Jan. 17 special election. All voters will be eligible to participate in Tuesday’s election.
