A candidate who has submitted two different sets of qualifying paperwork for two elected positions in Tallahatchie County will only be allowed to seek one.
On Aug. 7, Sharon Elaine Bailey, 58, of 156 Main St., Webb, filed with the circuit clerk’s office a Qualifying Statement of Intent and a petition bearing signatures to seek reelection to her Education District 4 seat on the West Tallahatchie School District Board of Trustees, which will come up for regular election on Nov. 5.
On Aug. 21, Bailey turned in another Qualifying Statement of Intent and petition, this time for the office of Tallahatchie County 2nd District constable in a special election also set for Nov. 5.
Bailey would have been seeking a second five-year term on the school board after she was first elected to the position in 2019 and assumed the seat in January 2020.
She is the widow of longtime 2nd District Constable Clifton Bailey, and when he died Jan. 27 of end-stage renal disease, she was appointed by the Tallahatchie County Board of Supervisors to serve as constable on an interim basis pending a special election this fall.
For the past seven months, Bailey has simultaneously held her school trustee seat and the constable post.
Yolanda Cotton, Tallahatchie County election commissioner for District 3, said Tuesday that state law prohibits a person from qualifying as a candidate for more than one office if the election for the offices occurs on the same day.
“According to the secretary of state, your name cannot appear on the ballot twice at the same time,” she noted.
In the event of a dual qualifying scenario such as that by Bailey, the law provides that the election commission “shall determine the last office for which the person qualified and the person shall be considered to be qualified as a candidate for that office only.”
Since Bailey most recently qualified for the position of constable, that will be the office for which the Tallahatchie County Election Commission certifies her candidacy, explained Cotton.
“What will end up happening is, we will have to send her a letter stating which position was accepted and which one was not,” she added.
Contacted Tuesday, Bailey was indifferent.
“I know my name can only appear on the ballot one time, and it’s going to be for constable,” Bailey said. “As long as my name is on the ballot for constable, that’s all that matters to me.”
Bailey said she would not, however, withdraw qualifying paperwork she had filed for the school board post.
Asked if a change of heart led her to sign up for the constable’s race after first filing paperwork to again seek the school board seat, Bailey replied, “I never had a change of heart. I was always going to run for constable. But I wanted to qualify for Education District 4, and if somebody else qualified, that would be different.”
As of Tuesday, no one else had filed to qualify for the Education District 4 position.
