Incumbent Thad Cochran is on the November ballot as the GOP U.S. Senate candidate unless a court orders otherwise, Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said, and voting will start in September. The Board of Election Commissioners – Hosemann, Gov. Phil Bryant and Attorney General Jim Hood – approved a ballot for Nov. 4 with no discussion of Chris McDaniel’s lawsuit challenging his primary loss to Cochran. The ballot includes Democrat Travis Childers, Reform Party Shawn O’Hara and Republican Cochran for Senate. A subordinate filled in for Hood at Tuesday’s meeting. McDaniel’s lawyers last week asked for an injunction preventing Hosemann from sending out general election ballots until McDaniel’s challenge is decided. The judge declined.
Hosemann at Tuesday’s hearing said Childers, Cochran and O’Hara had “been vetted,” that none had tax, manslaughter or other felony convictions that would prohibit their running, and that they met residency and other requirements. “All have been nominated by their party and meet all criteria,” Hosemann told other board members and staffers.
After the hearing, Hosemann said he expects absentee voting for military and residents overseas to begin Sept. 20, with the ballot that includes Cochran. “If there is a judicial change, then I assume the court will instruct us what to do,” Hosemann said. “… We will start now to prepare the final ballot, that will be done by Sept. 10 and sent out to all of the clerks. Each county has a separate ballot and it takes us quite a while to get all the ballot styles together … We will have people voting on this ballot starting Sept. 20 unless we are ordered otherwise.”
Full Article: Hosemann: Cochran on ballot unless court says otherwise.