By Billy Davis

A canvassing of Panola County ballot boxes will conclude Wednesday morning in Batesville, Bill Luckett, attorney for Sheriff Otis Griffin, said Monday.

Panola County has 24 precincts and the canvassing moved through two-thirds of them last Friday, Luckett told The Panolian.

Mississippi election law allows candidates to examine ballot boxes after an election and Griffin took advantage of the opportunity after losing to Dennis Darby by 135 votes.

“We are doing kind of a re-tally,” Luckett said of the canvassing. “We have not come to any definite conclusions yet.”

Darby attorney Richard Bowen, of Iuka, said the ballot examination on Friday failed to show his client’s vote count had diminished.

“The (election) results seem to be correct,” Bowen said. “I didn’t see anything significant.”

A ballot box examination typically means scrutinizing absentee ballot envelopes, which are kept under seal in precinct boxes. It’s possible that affidavit ballots, which are kept in a separate sealed box, could also be examined.

Unofficial election returns showed 1,281 absentee ballots were accepted in the Nov. 8 election — 695 cast for Darby and 586 cast for Griffin.

Poll workers rejected approximately 60 absentees on election night according to election commissioner Ronald McMinn.

The county election commission accepted 32 affidavit ballots — 17 for Darby, 15 for Griffin — the morning after Election Day. McMinn said 93 affidavits had been cast.

Canvassing election boxes is not a contest of election results, though it can be the first step before contesting the results.

Darby and Griffin had served each other a required legal notice that they intended to canvass the boxes.

Canvassing is taking place in the county boardroom at the courthouse, where Circuit Clerk Joe Reid was wheeling blue ballot boxes on a dolly into the room.

When Luckett and Griffin requested a ballot box, Reid or a deputy clerk broke the seal on the box. Then Luckett opened the box in front of Darby and Bowen, who were seated on the opposite end of the long board table.  

Four volunteers were seated around the board table with Griffin and Luckett to help the attorney and the sheriff tabulate votes.   

The boardroom was crowded Friday with other Griffin supporters who were also busily writing information as it was called out.

Last Friday’s canvassing began with the single ballot box from the Como precinct. After the box was examined, the contents were pushed down the table to Bowen and Darby volunteer Dee Ruhl.

Ruhl was seen scrutinizing at least two absentee ballot envelopes from Como, though neither she nor Bowen stated if the Darby campaign would challenge them.

“From what I observed Friday, Dennis will be fine. He will prevail in this,” said Ruhl.

Mississippi election law has a 20-day window for candidates to contest an election in court. Bowen said that date falls on Monday, November 28.