The Tallahatchie County Election Commission met Wednesday morning to consider whether 38 affidavit ballots cast during Tuesday's general election would be valid, but the results did not change the outcome of any races.
After rendering their decision, voter selections on approved ballots became part of the official tally, which did mean slight adjustments to some vote totals.
What did not change is the fact that Robin L. Hodges, 32, of 1208 Carroll Dr., Charleston, will meet up with Darrell Neal, 57, of 13614 Tippo Road, Tippo, in a Nov. 26 runoff to determine who will hold the position of school board member in Education District 9 for the next five years.
The seat is on the East Tallahatchie School District Board of Trustees, and Neal is the longtime incumbent.
Hodges led three candidates, also including Verry (Vera) Gary, 61, of Charleston, in the vote count on Election Day. A runoff is necessary because no one received a majority of the vote. The top two vote-getters advance to the runoff.
Affidavits only benefited Neal, who picked up two additional votes.
The final count, after affidavits, saw Hodges with 213 votes (37%), Neal with 192 (33%) and Gary with 176 (30%).
Two days removed from Election Day, it also became clearer that Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States. As of 2 p.m. Thursday, Trump, a Republican, held 295 electoral votes while his chief opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, had 226. A total of 270 electoral votes are required to win the presidency. Only the states of Arizona and Nevada remained two close to call, although Trump was ahead in the vote count in both states.
With affidavit ballots included in the mix, the latest figures show that 5,175 of Tallahatchie County's 9,680 registered voters cast a ballot, or 53.46%.
In 2020, 59% of registered voters in the county had voted in the general election for president. In 2016, 62% voted, and in 2012 the figure was 72%.
Despite the transition to a paper ballot, county election officials reported no major problems at any of the county's 19 voting precincts.
