Judge rules Truly, others allowed on Canton ballot

CANTON — A judge has ruled that Mayor William S. Truly is a resident and should be on the April 6 Democrat primary ballot.

Several other candidates for municipal office were also deemed qualified by the judge.

In the mayor’s case, Truly and his wife Natwassie, who is a candidate for re-election to the Canton Municipal Democratic Election Commission, were disqualified over residency by the Canton Municipal Democratic Party Election Commission.

The case, brought by the Trulys, was heard after two different Canton Democratic Municipal Executive Committees submitted differing ballots. 

The dispute threatened to delay municipal primaries scheduled for next month but now it appears Canton primaries can proceed on April 6 as planned.

Canton Municipal Election Commission Chairman John Scanlan had introduced a ballot for the April 6 Canton Muncipal Democratic primary that did not include Truly or his wife, along with the other candidates, saying they did not meet residency requirements.

Scanlan alleged Natwassie Truly owns a house in Gluckstadt. “We presented proof of that,” Scanlan said. “It was a deed of trust. She testified she owns the house. She testified she owns the house, not Dr. Truly, but the fact that she owns the house was not disputed at all. They didn’t dispute it.”

Scanlan told the Journal Wednesday, “Why on Earth would you rent a, would you live in a rented apartment from 2009, which is their testimony, until the present, in three different locations in that same apartment complex to a house you have rented in Canton and left early in 2010?

“Why would you rent a place to live when you own a house seven miles south of Canton? What sense does that make?”

After two days of hearings, Special Circuit Court Judge Lamar Pickard of Hazlehurst issued his decision March 12 in favor of the Trulys.

“Mr. and Mrs. Truly were residents in the municipality of Canton, Mississippi, at the time that their qualifying papers were filed with the City of Canton,” Pickard wrote in the decision. 

“Mr. and Mrs. Truily have been residents of the City of Canton, Mississippi, for a period of much longer than two years, and that there’s never been a break in that residency.”

Pickard further wrote that no evidence was presented that would disqualify the Trulys from being included on the ballots.

“Accordingly, this court hereby orders that both Mr. Truly and Mrs. Truly shall be placed on the April 6, 2021, Democratic Primary Election ballot as qualified candidates of the Democratic Party for the respective offices that they seek,” Pickard wrote. 

A separate dispute over the competing Canton Municipal Democratic Election Commission was not addressed by the court.

“The Court finds that the matter of whether the ‘Legitimate Canton, Municipal Democratic Election Commission,’ was legally and properly constituted at the time that it failed to qualify Plaintiffs Natwassie Truly and William Truly Jr. as candidates for the respective offices, is not properly before the Court. Therefore, the Court declines to make a finding on this issue.”

Truly told the Journal on Monday he and his wife live on N. Kathy Circle in Canton, but his wife owns property outside of Canton that they do not reside on.

Truly said he believes the disqualification was an attempt to keep him from being re-elected.

“What they were trying to do is they were trying to disqualify me so we would have Chip Matthews (the only other candidate running for mayor) as a Republican mayor,” Truly said following the judge’s decision. “That is all that is about.”