The window for absentee voting in the Senate District 32 special election has opened. Voters who will be out of town or unable to get to the polls November 2 can stop by the Lauderdale County Circuit Clerk’s office to vote by absentee.

Absentee voting hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Additionally, the circuit clerk’s office will be open 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 23 for residents to vote absentee. Ballots are available for voters in the 14 Lauderdale County precincts in Senate District 32 who will not be able to vote in person on election day.

In an email, Circuit Clerk Donna Jill Johnson stressed Mississippi does not allow early voting, however absentee voting is allowed for those with a legitimate reason.

“Mississippi does not have early voting but has absentee voting whereas you need a legal reason to vote,” she said. “We are asking for the voter to look at their calendar to see if they will be on vacation, having surgery, a conference, a long-haul truck driver’s or working hours from 7am until 7pm, are just a few of the legal reasons.”

Johnson said her office wants to encourage residents to vote at their precincts instead of voting absentee if at all possible. Lauderdale County has gone back to paper ballots, she said, and the long lines some voters experienced with touchscreen voting are no longer an issue.

“Lauderdale County has had ‘touchscreens’ for over 16 years, and you often had long lines,” she said via email. “Now that we have gone back to paper ballots with scanners, lines would be a rarity.”

And the lack of lines is not the only benefit to paper ballots. Johnson said voters will have the opportunity to correct any mistakes at the precinct and can be assured their vote was counted accurately as soon as their ballot is scanned.

Voters in the November 2 special election will select from nine candidates who they want to replace Sen. Sampson Jackson. Jackson, who served as District 32 Senator for almost 30 years, retired in June.

Candidates appearing on the ballot include W.J. Coleman, Stan Copeland, James Creer, Justin Curtis Creer, Minh Duong, Rod Hickman, Kim Houston, Keith Jackson and Bradley Joseph Sudduth.

Precincts will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 2 for Senate District 32 voters to come by. District 32 includes 14 of Lauderdale County’s 40 voting precincts, as well as parts of Kemper, Noxubee and Winston counties.