Supremes uphold commish’s candidacy

The Mississippi Supreme Court last Thursday affirmed a lower court decision that allowed Madison County Election Commissioner Joanne Pearson to appear on the ballot, ruling that minor omissions on her qualifying papers were not enough to disqualify her candidacy.

The court's unanimous decision brings an end to a legal challenge filed by a group of five citizens who argued that the Madison County Board of Supervisors acted improperly when it approved Pearson's petition to run for office in the November 2024 election. Pearson, a Republican, ultimately won the election for the District Three seat, defeating Democratic candidate Walter Young, Jr.

The case centered on whether Pearson's qualifying documents met state requirements. The challengers, led by Callie Mae Brown, pointed to two main issues: Pearson's initial failure to declare a party affiliation on one form and the absence of the election date on her candidate petition signed by voters.

In the court's opinion, Chief Justice Michael K. Randolph wrote that while state law requires candidates to declare their party affiliation in writing, Pearson's failure to do so on one document was not grounds for disqualification. The court noted that Pearson later orally declared herself a Republican candidate at a public board meeting in March 2024 and that her party affiliation did appear correctly on the November ballot.

The justices found that the error related to how her name would appear on the ballot, not whether she was fundamentally qualified to be on it.

Regarding the petition signatures, the court rejected the argument that the missing election date could have misled the 55 voters who signed it. The opinion stated that since each page of the petition clearly contained Pearson's name, the office she sought, and the correct district, it was unlikely that signers were confused. The court referenced past rulings that minor technical irregularities should not invalidate an election or disenfranchise voters, especially when there is no evidence of fraud.

"In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, we find that Pearson's candidate petition was not misleading by its terms and that the signers' intent to endorse Pearson's placement upon the ballot was clear," Randolph wrote.

The Supreme Court also affirmed the circuit court's decision to deny a motion to disqualify attorney Spence Flatgard from representing the Board of Supervisors in the matter. The challengers had argued that Flatgard, who also serves as counsel for the Madison County Election Commission, had a conflict of interest.

The court disagreed, finding that in matters of qualifying an election commissioner candidate, the Board of Supervisors effectively takes on the role of the election commission, meaning their interests were aligned, not in conflict.

The Board of Supervisors originally approved Pearson's candidacy in February 2024 after its attorney, Mike Espy, advised that while the paperwork had incomplete sections, the documents taken together substantially complied with state law.