A run-off election for the seat of House District 54 will be held in three weeks against candidates Randy Easterling and Kevin Ford.
Voters headed to the polls last Tuesday for the special election, with a total of 207 voters casting votes locally. Eight precincts within Yazoo County were able to vote during the House District 54 race, which became vacant on July 2 after Alex Monsour was sworn in as South Ward Alderman for the city of Vicksburg.
Joe Bonelli, Randy Easterling, and Kevin Ford faced off in the special election. Since none of the candidates received more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two vote-getters in the special election, Easterling and Ford, will face off in the runoff election. Candidates in Mississippi special elections run without party labels.
District-wide, Ford received 923 votes; Easterling received 837 votes; and Bonelli received 763 votes.
On a local level, Ford carried 44.93 percent of votes with 93 votes; Easterling earned 41.06 percent of votes with 85 votes; and Bonelli earned 14.01 percent of the votes with 29 votes.
Circuit Clerk Robert Coleman said voter turnout was considerably low Tuesday.
“Only 5.54 percent of registered voters in those precincts came out Tuesday,” Coleman said.
Coleman said he is also working with the Secretary of State office to resolve a few issues that arose Tuesday with some voters being unable to vote.
In 2010, Coleman said some precincts were combined during a redistricting process from the prior administration.
“When combining those precincts with the prior administration, the appropriate splits were not put in place,” Coleman said. “We are revisiting the issue to see what needs to be corrected for the future. We are trying to get it resolved by the run-off election.”
Coleman said those voters affected may still cast affidavit ballots.
A run-off election between Ford and Easterling will be held on Nov. 28.
