Voters in Senate District 32 planning to vote by absentee in the special election have until noon Saturday to cast their ballots. For those planning to vote in person, polls will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Absentee ballots are available now for those 65 and older and voters with a legitimate reason they will be unable to vote in person. The Lauderdale County Circuit Clerk’s office will be open 8 a.m. to noon Saturday for voters needing to vote absentee.

Lauderdale County Circuit Clerk Donna Jill Johnson said she wanted to encourage residents to vote at their precinct on election day if at all possible. Voting in person, she said, is fast and is the most secure way to vote.

“Voters 65 and over are encouraged to vote once again at their precinct location with Lauderdale County going back to paper ballots and scanners and having no lines as in the past with the touchscreen voting device,” she said via email. “Nothing is more accurate and assuring as voting at the precinct level in any election, anywhere.”

Senate District 32 covers 14 of Lauderdale County’s 40 voting precincts, and only voters in Senate District 32 will be allowed to vote in the special election.

The 14 districts included in Tuesday’s election are:

•Meridian Little Theatre

•Lauderdale Fire Station

•Velma Young Community Center

•Raymond Davis Annex Building

•Daleville United Methodist Church

•Gateway Church in Lauderdale

•Hamasa Temple Shrine in Marion

•El Bethel Missionary Baptist Church

•Magnolia Hall

•MSU-Meridian

•Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church

•Old Mt. Barton School

•Prince of Peace Christian Fellowship Church

•Council of Organizations

Johnson said voters can find which Senate District they are registered in on the bottom of their voter registration card. For voters who may not have their voter registration card handy, Johnson said the precincts will be the same as the 2020 presidential election. Those who voted at one of the 14 precincts in the presidential election will likely be eligible to vote in the Senate District 32 Special Election.

“Also, if unable to locate their voter registration card, and one of these 14 precincts listed is where they voted in the 2020 presidential election, and not necessarily where they voted this year in the Mayor and City Council elections, as it could be different, they are eligible to vote,” she said.

Nine candidates have qualified to replace Sen. Sampson Jackson as their representative for Senate District 32, which includes parts of Lauderdale, Kemper, Noxubee and Winston counties. Jackson, who served for almost 30 years, retired in June.

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