Starkville Municipal Judge Rodney Faver has won a runoff election to the Chancery District 14, Place 1 judge seat, based on unofficial election results.
Results from Oktibbeha, Chickasaw and Webster counties show Faver leading Lee Ann Turner with 8,855 votes to 8,716, a 139-vote margin, after election day, absentee and affidavits were counted. Faver’s total is good for 50.3 percent of the vote, while Turner received about 49.6 percent.
The race remained too close to call for much of the day, while the counties processed 280 affidavits — the bulk of which were tallied in Oktibbeha County.
Oktibbeha County Circuit Clerk Tony Rook said more than half of the 254 affidavit ballots reviewed in the county were rejected. The county accepted 118 affidavit ballots and rejected 136.
“We had a few who were people voting in the wrong precinct, but the overwhelming majority of those (rejected ballots) were people who were not registered to vote,” Rook said.
Rook said he was surprised to see such a high percentage of rejected affidavit ballots, especially for unregistered voters, but said he’s not certain how that compares to most other elections.
Faver carried Oktibbeha County by nearly 1,000 votes and Webster County by 135. Turner, meanwhile, carried Chickasaw County by roughly 900 votes.
Nine total no I.D. affidavits remain to be counted in the three counties. Voters who did not show proper voting I.D. on election day have through Tuesday to present a valid I.D. at the circuit clerk’s office.
Faver did not respond to calls for comment by press time Thursday.
City preparations
Starkville Mayor Lynn Spruill told The Dispatch on Wednesday evening the city will begin preparations to appoint another municipal judge. Faver takes office at the beginning of 2019, and Spruill said the city will begin discussions before then to appoint its next judge. She noted discussions would likely be included on the board of aldermen’s Tuesday meeting agenda.
Spruill said the city hopes to have a judge appointed as quickly as possible. However, she said the city may have to use an interim judge, as municipal judges have to attend a judges school in Reno, Nevada.
She also said the city wishes Faver, who’s served as Starkville’s municipal judge since 2009, the best in his new position.
“We appreciate the service that Rodney has given to us in the position as municipal judge and congratulate him on the success,” Spruill said. “Obviously he wanted that position so we’re delighted for him and we will move forward to make that replacement appropriately and expeditiously.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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