Election season is in full swing as Lauderdale County residents prepare to head to the polls for the Aug. 8 primary elections. This year’s ballot will feature the majority of the statewide and state district positions as well as county positions from coroner to county attorney.

Ahead of the election, Circuit Clerk Donna Jill Johnson is hoping to clear up some confusion with answers to frequently asked questions her office receives.

Mississippi does not register voters by political party, she said, so all qualified voters will need to choose whether they want to vote in the Democrat primary or the Republican primary. A table for each party will be set up at each polling location on Aug. 8 for voters to receive the ballot of their choice.

In the event of a runoff, which is scheduled for Aug. 29 if needed, voters who cast a ballot in the primary will have to vote in the same party’s runoff election. Voters who do not vote in the primary election can still choose to vote in the runoff should one be held.

While Mississippi does not have early voting, voting via absentee ballot is allowed for those with a valid reason, such as being out of town on Election Day, working during polling hours or scheduled medical procedures. The Secretary of State’s office 2023 election calendar shows absentee ballots must be available to voters no later than June 24, with the deadline to vote absentee set for noon on August 5.

Although absentee voting is unavoidable for some, Johnson and her staff encourage residents to cast their vote in person on Election Day if at all possible. Lauderdale County, along with Mississippi’s other 81 counties, have eliminated the electronic touchscreen voting machines and returned to paper ballots.

The move has all but ended the long wait times some residents encountered with the touchscreen systems as well as provides additional security to the election by creating a physical paper record of how each vote was cast.

Residents needing to register to vote or update their existing registration have until 5 p.m. on July 10 to be eligible to vote in the primary election and 5 p.m. on July 31 to be eligible to vote in the primary runoff.

Some residents will also be receiving new voter registration cards in the mail as Lauderdale County completes its redistricting process. Required after the national census every 10 years, redistricting is the process of redrawing the district boundary lines to reflect population changes in the community.

The Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors completed its redistricting last year and recently approved new voting precincts to match the newly drawn boundaries. As part of the process, the circuit clerk’s office mails out new voter registration cards to residents showing where they should go to vote and what district or ward they live in for everything from the local school board to senate.

For questions or concerns about the primary election, contact the Lauderdale County Circuit Clerk’s office at 601-482-9731. Information about elections can also be found online at the Secretary of State’s elections portal, at yallvote.sos.ms.gov.