County Receives PPE For Election

WATER VALLEY –  Thousands of pens, gallons of hand sanitizer and ample supplies of PPE arrived in Yalobusha County Monday to help protect election workers and voters on election day. The supplies were provided by the Mississippi Secretary of State and distributed  to all 82 counties.
Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson reported the items were purchased with Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) funds appropriated to Mississippi to ensure that election commissioners and poll workers know they are going to be taken care of.
“These will be the cleanest and safest precincts Mississippi voters have ever seen,” Watson added in a press release last week.
The supplies were shipped to nine distribution points across the state including the Panola County EMA office in Sardis where Yalobusha County EMA Director Dalton Coleman picked them up Monday morning.
Yalobusha County Circuit Clerk Daryl Burney reported the supplies will go to election commissioners for use in the 12 precincts across the county during  the Nov. 3 election. Burney said planning has been underway for months in anticipation of record turnout in the Presidential Election. Burney added that social distancing will be practiced as much as possible on election day and each voter will be provided a pen to mark their ballot.

Absentee Ballots
Voters in Mississippi can cast an absentee ballot until October 31, three days before the big election, by either visiting the circuit clerk’s offices or calling and requesting an absentee ballot be mailed to their residence. Voters can return the absentee ballot by mail, but that is the extent of mail-in voting in Mississippi. Absentee voters must also meet specific guidelines in order to vote early.
In Yalobusha County a total of 238 absentee ballots were requested during the first week of voting according to information provided by Watson’s office. Of those voters, 52 requested an absentee ballot because they are 65 years of age or older, 101 because of a temporary disability, two for active military service, 60 were requested because the voter will be out of the county on election day, four because the voter will be out of the country on election day, six because the voter will be out of the state on election day, three from college students and 10 requested because the voter’s work hours conflict with the polling hours.
Additional staff has been hired for the circuit clerk offices in Coffeeville and Water Valley. Burney said a worker is stationed in the hallways of the Water Valley and Coffeeville courthouses to minimize congestion for voters.
Burney also urged any registered voter who has recently moved to contact his office to update their information. The number for the Water Valley office is (662) 473-1341 and the Coffeeville office is (662) 675-8187.