Absentee ballots are now available for the Jan. 31 runoff to elect a new state representative to replace former lawmaker Jim Beckett.
The runoff will be between Calhoun Countians Perry Van Bailey and Andy Stepp in House of Representatives District 23. Webster County precincts in the district are Bellefontaine, Walthall, Big Black, Maben, Clarkson, Cumberland and Mantee.
Anyone who will be away from their regular polling place and unable to vote in person on election day between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. may cast an absentee ballot.
The circuit clerk’s office in Walthall will be open from 8 a.m.-noon the next two Saturdays, Jan. 21 and 28, for runoff absentee voting. Absentee ballots may also be cast from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays in the clerk’s office in the Courthouse.
No candidate on the ballot received a majority of the votes cast in the District 23 special election on Jan. 10, which includes Calhoun County and portions of Grenada, Lafayette and Webster counties. Stepp, a 64-year-old pharmacist, and Bailey, a 58-year-old farmer — the top two vote-getters — will compete against one another on Jan. 31.
The special election featuring three candidates drew fewer than 2,500 voters, according to the Magnolia Tribune. Voter turnout in the seven District 23 precincts in Webster, which have 2,136 registered voters total, was only 9.46%.
Andy Clark of Calhoun County received the most votes here with 89, followed by Bailey with 82 and Stepp with 31, according to official results. Districtwide, Stepp won just under 49% while Bailey pulled in 38%.
Special elections in Mississippi are nonpartisan, meaning candidates do not officially declare a party affiliation for election purposes.
The winner of the special election will complete the current term, which ends Dec. 31. The deadline for candidates to file paperwork to run in this year’s regular election for District 23 will be one day after the runoff.
The House seat became vacant when Beckett resigned from the Legislature to become executive director of the Mississippi Public Utilities Staff.
