With no federal, state or county elections scheduled for 2025, this year was supposed to be a brief respite for Lauderdale County’s five election commissioners. Instead, they are expecting to be busier than ever.

 

In a Council of Governments meeting Monday, Election Commissioner Gloria Dancy said the commission will have its first election of the year on March 25, when Meridian voters head to the polls to elect a new representative for state House District 82.

 

Gov. Tate Reeves declared a special election on Jan. 3 following the death of longtime Rep. Charles Young Jr., who died in December. Candidates for the seat have until 5 p.m. on Feb. 3 to qualify for the race.

 

Dancy said a runoff date has been set for April 22 if needed.

 

Election commissioners will also have a special election to fill a vacancy for the 12th District Chancery Court left by judge Charles Smith, who retired in July 2024. Reeves set that special election for Nov. 4.

 

The Chancery Court race will not need a runoff date, Dancy said, and the candidate with the most votes on Nov. 4 will be the winner.

 

With two special election on the horizon, election commissioners are also in talks with the City of Meridian to conduct its municipal elections later this year, Dancy said. Nothing has been agreed to yet, she said, but discussions are ongoing.

 

“It’s supposed to be our off year,” she said. “We’re more on than off.”

 

With the city elections on the horizon, the commission is also working to get a final list of voting precincts in the city following redistricting. States, cities and counties are required to redraw district/ward boundaries after each census, and the Meridian City Council completed its process using the 2020 census date in 2022.

 

Now, Dancy said, the city needs to decide where voting precincts will be located within each ward so new voter registration cards can be sent out to voters ahead of the municipal elections.

 

“They have not settled it yet, but once they get it nailed down to where they’re going to be, all those peoples in those areas are going to have to be given new voter registration cards,” she said. “That’s how they will know where they’re going to go vote at. On that card, it’s going to have where you vote if its a federal or county election, where you vote if it’s a municipal election.”

 

The commission tries to use the same precinct locations for as many races as possible so voters will cast their votes in the same place for state, city, county and federal elections. Having fewer precincts cuts down on voter confusion and makes the voting process easier.

 

Primary elections for mayoral and City Council candidates are set for April 1, with a runoff date of April 22 if needed. The general election will be held June 3, with June 24 set for any runoff elections.

 

State Sen. Jeff Tate, who previously served as an election commissioner for Lauderdale County prior to running for Senate, said he encourages voters to allot extra time for voting this year as it may be more complicated than normal. With April 22 set for both primary runoffs for municipal elections, held at voters’ city voting precincts, and runoff elections for House District 82, held at the state precincts, voters could end up voting in two different places.

 

“Take extra time Election Day,” he said.

 

Finally, Dancy said, the Election Commission is looking at moving out of the old courthouse and into the new Lauderdale County Government Center later this month. The move has been delayed by more than a year as the commission worked with county supervisors and other officials to address storage and workspace issues that prevented an earlier switch.