Hosemann releases elections report, finds problems

JACKSON — As required by state law, Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann is releasing the 2010 Elections Report for both the general and general runoff elections. This report outlines observations of Secretary of State Office staff during the voting process.

“For the most part, the 2010 Elections went smoothly,” said Hosemann. “However, our observers did note issues in the voting process. Through public knowledge, voters must establish the credibility of the election system in their own precinct.”

A total of 31 observers were dispatched to 29 counties throughout the state during the general election and 13 observers into 13 counties for the general election runoff.

Some of the observations noted by Secretary of State personnel and included in the report are:

• The implementation of enhanced military voting in Mississippi

• An insufficient number of voting machines deployed in some counties

• An insufficient number of machine-scannable paper ballots provided on election day

• Absentee balloting in some counties reflected a small number of individuals may have witnessed a large number of ballots. For example, in one county, 350 ballots were witnessed by the same six individuals. One individual witnessed 167 ballots and another individual witnessed 80 ballots.

A copy of the 2010 Elections Report may be viewed on the “Elections” page of the Secretary of State’s website at www.sos.ms.gov.