Absentee voting continues in special election

In-person absentee voting at the Kemper County Circuit Clerk’s office will be open until noon on Saturday, Oct. 30 for those interested in casting their ballots early for the Nov. 2 special election District 32 State Senate seat.
“We have some coning in but it may be like the school vote we had and everybody just bombards us in the last two weeks,” 

said Circuit Clerk Shirley Steele Jackson. She said that her office would be open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. every Monday through Friday through 

Oct. 29 for absentee vot- ing, as well as from 8 a.m. until noon on Saturday, Oct. and Saturday, Oct. 30. There will be no in-person absentee voting allowed on Nov. 1 or Nov. 2, but ballots will be accepted through the mail as long as they meet all legal qualifications. 

Kemper County will re- turn to paper ballot voting. “Before we voted on a touch screen machine,” Jackson said. “This helps us have paper ballots in case something happens and we have to county by hand.” 

It’s the same system being used by several neighboring counties, including Lauderdale. 

Voters will mark their ballots, then it will be run through a scanner where it is then counted. 

The nine candidates for the District 32 seat that was vacated when long- time Senator Sampson Jackson stepped down, are: (In alphabetical order) W.J. Coleman, Stan Copeland, James Creer, Justin Curtis Creer, Minh 

Duong, Rod Hickman, Kim Houston, Keith Jackson, Bradley Joseph Sudduth. 

This is a non-partisan election, meaning no party affiliation is declared. 

In none of the candidates receive a majority following the Nov. 2 balloting the top two finishers will take part in a run-off election on Nov. 23.