Starkville mayoral dispute far from over

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – By the time the Starkville election challenge is decided, Mayor Lynn Spruill may be completing her first year in office.

Johnny Moore, a local attorney, lost to Spruill by 7 votes. He challenged and the case was assigned to Special Judge Barry Ford.

Moore is challenging affidavit votes, or the votes of people who are not on the voter rolls at the polling place, and in some cases, apparently not registered to vote in the city. He also challenged some absentee ballots, but then changed his mind this week.

Following 3 days of testimony and cross examination, Ford outlined the next steps.

A transcript of these proceedings will be completed and forwarded to both sides within the next few weeks.

At that point, Mayor Spruill and Moore have 21 days to file legal briefs.

Once Judge Ford receives that material, he will make arrangements to schedule a meeting with election commissioners. And following that meeting, he will scheduled a date for both sides to return to the courtroom.

It is possible that a decision could be reached in June.