According to Sunflower County Circuit Clerk Carolyn Hamilton, the official results for the Mississippi House of Representatives District 30 race, which was held May 8, are in and two candidates, Blake Ferretti and Tracey Rosebud are headed into a runoff election on Tuesday, May 29.
Hamilton said there are 16 precincts in House District 30 that cover four counties, Sunflower, Bolívar, Quitman, and Tallahatchie. Ferretti garnered a total of 1,018 votes to Rosebud's 546.
Also in the race were Lester Williams who captured 496 votes and William McClellan who received 306 total votes.
Paper ballots were used in the election process instead of the voting machines and the state inadvertently left a letter out of Ferretti's name, which resulted in them sending out a corrected ballot that had to be downloaded and photocopied Hamilton said.
As a result, some of the markings alongside of the names did not show clearly. However, that did not create a problem since the names could be clearly seen and each ballot had to be marked and counted by hand anyway. Hamilton said all the voters had to do was circle or make a mark by the name in order for the votes to be tallied.
No issue is anticipated with the runoff ballots.
So far, Sunflower County has only received three absentee ballots and Hamilton wants the public to know that her office will be open until noon on Saturday to serve those needing to complete absentee voting. Four of the 16 precincts are in Sunflower County.
Ferretti received 207 votes in the county with Rosebud receiving only 79. Williams actually had the most votes at 381, while McClellan collected 17.
Gov. Phil Bryant set the election after the seat became vacant upon the retirement of Rep. Robert E. Huddleston. Huddleston served in the House of Representatives for 23 years.
