Woman whose ballot could decide race can’t recall her vote

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - The latest on House and Senate election contests in the Mississippi Legislature. (All times local.)

7:04 p.m.

The woman whose ballot may decide a tied state House race says she can’t remember how she voted.

Dawn Tullos Gorey says poll workers couldn’t find her name on the rolls in November, leading her to vote an affidavit ballot.

Smith County Election Commissioner Sherri Darden says Gorey’s ballot was never counted, because Darden couldn’t verify that Gorey was the person who had been registered as Dawn Sanderford in another precinct. Gorey says her last name was formerly Sanderford.

The chairman of a House committee hearing Republican Mark Tullos’ election challenge against incumbent Democratic Rep. Bo Eaton of Taylorsville says he’s inclined to count Gorey’s ballot if officials can confirm her identity. Eaton won the tied race by drawing straws.

Gorey says she knows of no relation to Mark Tullos.

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6:55 p.m.

A Republican poll watcher says she believes more than 100 violations of election laws took place in Bude precinct in Franklin County in November. But an attorney questions whether the poll watcher, Anita Leonard, is accusing election officials of wrongdoing without having fully seen or heard what was happening.

Leonard testified Thursday before a Mississippi Senate committee handling a dispute over the District 37 race in Amite, Adams, Franklin and Pike counties.

Republican former Sen. Melanie Sojourner seeks to overturn her 64-vote loss to Democratic former Sen. Bob Dearing. Both are from Natchez.

Leonard filed misdemeanor charges against five poll workers more than a week after the Nov. 3 general election. She accuses some of improperly helping voters and others of failing to check voters’ identification.

Dearing’s attorney, Brad Pigott, says Leonard could not see or hear all interaction between poll workers and voters.

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5:45 p.m.

There could be a tiebreaker ballot in a contested House race that had been decided by drawing straws.

The chairman of a House committee hearing Republican Mark Tullos’ election challenge against incumbent Democratic Rep. Bo Eaton of Taylorsville says he’s inclined to open and count one more ballot if officials with the Secretary of State’s office can confirm the voter’s identity.

Tullos wants the House to reject five ballots from people who moved more than 30 days before the November election and voted in a new precinct. Smith County officials say they counted those ballots on instructions from the state. They rejected a similar ballot from a woman named Elvira Dawn Tullos Gorey, with officials saying they were unsure of her identity. It’s unclear if she’s related to Mark Tullos.

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5:23 p.m.

Mississippi Senate and House committees are hearing testimony on two election challenges, but it remained unclear Thursday when either will recommend a decision to their respective chambers.

Republican former Sen. Melanie Sojourner wants the Senate to overturn her 64-vote loss in the November general election to Democratic former Sen. Bob Dearing.

Both are from Natchez, and ran in District 37, including Adams, Amite, Franklin and Pike counties.

Sojourner questions the conduct of the election in Franklin County’s Bude precinct. Dearing says his victory should be upheld.

In the House, Republican Mark Tullos of Raleigh wants to overturn his tie with incumbent Democratic Rep. Bo Eaton of Taylorsville, saying Smith County officials improperly counted some votes. Eaton won a tiebreaker in the district, which also includes Jasper County, by drawing straws.