Case Title: Pyron v. Joiner

Citation: 381 So. 2d 627

Docket Number: 52011

State: mississippi

Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Date: 1980-03-19T00:00:00Z

Document:
381 So. 2d 627 (1980) W.H. "Shag" PYRON v. Bob JOINER. No. 52011. Supreme Court of Mississippi. March 19, 1980. Wheeless, Beanland, Shappley & Bailess, John C. Wheeless, Jr., Vicksburg, for appellant. Keyes, Moss & Piazza, Ben J. Piazza, Jr., Earl Keyes, Jackson, Samuel E. Farris, Hattiesburg, for appellee. EN BANC. ROBERTSON, Presiding Justice, for the Court: On August 27, 1979, W.H. "Shag" Pyron filed his Petition to Contest with the State Democratic Executive Committee challenging the Committee's certification of Bob Joiner as the winner in the Democratic primary election for Highway Commissioner from the Southern District, the Committee having found that Joiner was the winner by 5 votes, he having received a total of 133,857 votes, and Pyron 133,852 votes in the Democratic primary election held on August 7, 1979. On the contest, the Committee adhered to its former action and granted no relief. Pyron then filed his Petition for Judicial Review on September 26, 1979, in the Circuit Court of Claiborne County. Pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 23-3-45 (1972), the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi designated and notified Chancellor John C. Love, Jr. to hear and determine this election contest. The judgment of the Special Tribunal rendered on November 13, 1979, stated: The margin of Joiner's victory was thus raised from 5 to 1,117. Pyron has appealed to this Court, and contends here that: The Special Tribunal found that as a result of mathematical or counting errors, contestee Joiner had a net gain of 194 votes, and contestant Pyron had a net loss of 92 votes. Due to improper initialing of ballots or failure to initial ballots, 4,332 votes were declared illegal. Because of managers' failing to count ballots on election day, 258 ballots were declared illegal. Because of ballots marked in lead pencil, 175 votes were declared illegal. Due to a variation in the number of ballots in a box and the number of persons signing the voter register, 225 votes were declared illegal. Because of tampering with a box following the election, 107 votes were declared illegal. These votes declared illegal totaled 5,097 and constituted 1.9% of the 267,709 total votes cast. Another group of votes totaling 5,290 from Jefferson Davis County was thrown out. Initially these votes were officially counted in the proper manner but the Circuit Clerk failed to properly reseal the ballot boxes after the official count was concluded. Pyron had a 536 vote lead in that county based on the original certification. Joiner moved to invalidate all of the votes in that County and Pyron confessed Joiner's motion. In his opinion, Chancellor Love stated that the only reason he sustained Joiner's motion to invalidate these votes was because Pyron confessed the motion, and that: In hindsight, the trial judge was of the opinion that, under Allen v. Funchess, 195 Miss. 486, 15 So. 2d 343 (1943), "the proper procedure would have been to accept the certified result and simply not permit re-examination of those boxes," since the discrepancy occurred after the votes had been officially counted and before the contest was filed. The trial judge also stated: The Tribunal did not consider these 5,290 votes from Jefferson Davis County in computing the ratio of illegal votes cast (5097) to the total votes cast (267,709). Even if these 5,290 votes were added to the 5,097 illegal votes cast, the total would move up to 10,387 illegal votes and the percentage from 1.9% to 3.9%. In O'Neal v. Simpson, 350 So. 2d 998 (Miss. 1977), this Court quoted with approval from Pradat v. Ramsey, 47 Miss. 24 (1872): In Walker v. Smith, 213 Miss. 255, 56 So. 2d 84, Suggestion of Error, 213 Miss. 255, 57 So. 2d 166 (1952), this Court said: Pyron contends that this language from O'Neal changes the method of comparison from that used in Walker: In O'Neal, the Court said it was confronted with two courses of procedure that could be followed. We said: If all 359 votes cast in the Darling precinct were thrown out and the percentage was figured by dividing 359 by 942 (the total votes cast) the percentage of illegal votes would have been 38.11%. Not only would over 1/3rd of the total votes cast have been invalidated, but also the result of the election would have been changed and the winner would have been O'Neal instead of Simpson. We are of the opinion that, inasmuch as the illegal votes cast were only 1.9% of the total votes cast, or at most 3.9% (if the total Jefferson Davis County vote was considered in the total of illegal votes), and inasmuch as the result was not changed nor was any doubt or uncertainty cast on the result being in conformity with the will of a majority of the voters, the Special Tribunal was correct in finding that Bob Joiner was the winner in the Democratic Primary and would be the Democratic nominee for Highway Commissioner from the Southern District. The second assignment of error was that the Special Tribunal erred in allowing Joiner to amend his cross-petition by deleting therefrom certain allegations of irregularities in certain voting precincts. Mississippi Code Annotated section 23-3-49 (1972), contains this pertinent language: The Court also said in Darnell v. Myres, 202 Miss. 767, 32 So. 2d 684 (1947) [quoting from Harris v. Stewart, 187 Miss. 489, 193 So. 339, 341 (1940)]: The usual rule of procedure as to amending pleadings is stated in Mississippi Code Annotated section 11-5-53 (1972): There is no merit in this second assignment of error. For the reasons herein stated, the judgment of the Special Tribunal, finding and adjudging that Bob Joiner was the winner in the Democratic Primary and would be the Democratic Nominee for the position of Highway Commissioner from the Southern District, is affirmed. AFFIRMED. PATTERSON, C.J., SMITH and SUGG, WALKER, BROOM, LEE, BOWLING and COFER, JJ., concur.