STARKVILLE — A candidate hopeful for Starkville Ward 7 alderman has been disqualified from the race.
Starkville’s Municipal Democratic Executive Committee members voted unanimously in a special-call meeting Thursday to disqualify Nedra Lowery for not meeting the residency requirements to run for local office, Chairwoman Patti Drapala told The Dispatch.
State law enacted in January 2020 requires candidates for city and county elections to reside in the district they hope to represent for two years immediately preceding the election.
Lowery, 36, filed qualifying paperwork Jan. 22 to challenge three-term incumbent Henry Vaughn in the April 6 Democratic primary.
While attempting to qualify, she produced a lease agreement for a rental house on Louisville Street in Starkville dating back to March 2018.
However, Lowery ran in a special election for a vacant Columbus city council seat in September 2019, and she voted at a Lowndes County precinct in the U.S. presidential primary in March 2020.
She registered to vote in Oktibbeha County in August 2020 and cast her November ballot in Starkville.
Lowery told The Dispatch she had lived part-time between the rental house in Starkville and a family home in Columbus until last year.
Drapala said the committee determined Lowery’s “domicile” was Lowndes County until at least sometime after March 2020.
“We had no choice but to disqualify her,” Drapala said.
Lowery has the right to request an appeal hearing with the committee, Drapala said.
The deadline for candidate qualification in city elections is 5 p.m. Feb 5 with the city clerk’s office.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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