Perhaps one of the last things voters want to hear is anything involving election integrity. The subject reared its head in a major way during the Washington County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday when an agenda item, “Election Central” provided for an in-depth discussion about location of voting machines, election servers and the authorities of various county officials. “Right now, election central is going to be at the (Yazoo Mississippi Valley) Depot,” said BOS President Carl McGee. “We have a circuit clerk with an opponent in the upcoming election and we want to do everything to protect election integrity.” The circuit clerk has custodial authority (responsible for general upkeep) over voting machines and the county is transitioning to new machines and the Luther Alexander complex on North Theobald is the current storage facility for voting machines. According to BOS attorney Willie Griffin, the Election Commission’s authority begins with the preparation for elections. “This board has no interest in being involved in elections unless a storage space is requested,” Griffin said. Confusion colored the discussion because the Depot which McGee said would serve as election central appeared to have overlapped the responsibilities of the circuit clerk and the election commission and should have been of no regard to members of the board. Circuit Clerk Barbara Esters Parker said, “All of this conversation is new to me. I first heard about election central being at the Depot on Friday. I would like to keep the voting machine where they are because I don’t see a problem with the warehouse (Luther Alexander Building) and if we need more space, I think there is a suitable space upstairs. District 4 Supervisor Mala Brooks agreed by saying, “If we have space upstairs and it’s just a matter of cleaning up clutter, why wouldn’t we use it.” Brooks also told McGee that she believes he had overstepped his authority by declaring the Depot Election Central and that the person legally given the authority to oversee day to day operations of the county is the county administrator. “The president does not speak for this board,” Brooks said. McGee replied, “As board president, there are some things that need to be taken care of outside the meeting. Now if we are going to do everything outside the regular meeting through a special call then we can certainly do that. If there is an issue with the level of confidence that this board has in me as a president, you should speak now. Don’t speak under your breath.” District 1 Supervisor Lee Gordon called for Parker and District 1 Election Commissioner Jackie Thompson to weigh in one election central. During the discussion, it was also revealed that both the county clerk and the election commission both have servers under their authority. Thompson requested that the server be moved out of the Depot and placed inside the group’s Washington County Courthouse office under lock and key that has to be signed in and out when entering the secure location. As the matter moved into a resolution that seemed to suit all parties involved, McGee said. “When you have an issue or concern about people stepping outside their roles, don’t come to this board. Just resolve it.”
