By Rupert Howell

A class action lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Oxford includes Panola County and seeks judgement against using present supervisor district lines in the coming election, and asks for a restraining order against holding upcoming supervisor elections under existing boundary lines.

The suit also seeks to do away with the March 1 qualifying deadline until new supervisor district lines are drawn and approved.

Ten other Mississippi counties were also notified of similar lawsuits in federal court.

The redistricting process is well under way as Panola County has employed Slaughter and Associates of Oxford to propose new lines for redistricting plan to be considered.

The City of Batesville and South Panola School District have employed the same firm.

Panola supervisors are under pressure to complete the redistricting, though they have stated publicly that the process would fall past the March 1 qualifying deadline.

2010 Census figures were only recently made available, showing a disproportionate number of Panola Countians in District 4.  

Any new redistricting would not only be approved locally, but also by the U.S. Justice Department which must approve of all election related changes under the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The Mississippi legislature extended its qualifying deadlines and also allowed several counties to extend theirs, too, according to District 10 State Representative Warner McBride.

The issue comes up every 20 years when the 10 year census is followed by Mississippi’s four-year, statewide election cycle.

Plaintiffs listed on the suit include the Panola County Branch of the NAACP, Arrece Webb of Sardis, and a class of others similarly situated with the class being loosely described as “all African-American citizens and voters in Panola County, Mississippi.”

Defendants in the class action suit include Panola County Board of Supervisors, Panola County Democratic Executive Committee, Panola County Republican Executive Committee, Panola County Election commissioners and Circuit Clerk Joe Reid.