Election officials said Tyrone Lewis avoided a runoff against Sheriff Malcolm McMillin by a slim margin. Lewis received 50.79 percent of the vote to McMillin’s 45.15 percent. Lewis will become Hinds County’s new sheriff, defeating the long-time incumbent in the primary. There are no Republicans running in the general election.
It wasn’t until late Sunday evening that Hinds County election officials released the final numbers from last week’s election. Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said the Democratic and Republican parties run the primary elections, but he wants to fix some other polling problems before the November general election.
Hosemann said Hinds was one of several counties with election problems last week. Hosemann said his office received more than 200 complaints on Election Day. He said some precincts didn’t open on time and there were also reports of people who didn’t work at polling places just milling about there. In Lowndes County, 167 absentee ballots came in with the same person signed as a witness for all of them, Hosemann said.
“I think the integrity of the vote is critical,” Hosemann said. “I want people to have confidence that their vote counts and that it only counts once and that you’re alive when you cast it.”
Hosemann said his office will be reviewing all absentee ballots cast in the primary election. For the November election, Hosemann’s office will set up a text messaging system to receive complaints.
Source: Hosemann Looks To Fix Election Problems – Jackson News Story – WAPT Jackson.