Opinion ID: 1919304
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: illegal absentee votes.

Text: ¶ 11. Boyd alleges that there were a number of illegal votes cast in this election; therefore, the burden is on him, as the contestant, to prove both the existence of these illegal votes and that there were enough cast to change the election's result. Walker v. Smith, 213 Miss. 255, 57 So.2d 166 (1952). Additionally, an election may be invalidated when there has been a substantial failure to comply materially with the applicable statutes and the intent of the voters is impossible to ascertain. Walker, 57 So.2d at 166-67. ¶ 12. If a petitioner succeeds in an election contest below, an alternatively-pronged test is applied to determine whether a special election is warranted. Rogers, 636 So.2d at 647. In such a situation, a special election will be required if either (1) enough illegal votes were cast for the contestee to change the election result or (2) the amount of votes disqualified is substantial enough that it is impossible to discern the will of the voters. Id. When a contestant, such as Boyd, is unsuccessful in his contest, only the tainted votes are rendered void and the outcome of the election is determined by the legal votes cast. Id. (citing Rizzo v. Bizzell, 530 So.2d 121, 128 (Miss.1988)). As we conduct our review of the absentee ballots cast, we are afforded the right to make our own construction of authenticated written documents. Pegram, 708 So.2d at 1313. ¶ 13. The opinion and judgment of the special tribunal notes that thirteen ballots were invalidated by agreement of the parties. [3] We also agree with the tribunal as to two votes it ruled invalid, those of Velma Mathieu and O.L. Cain. Mathieu's name was signed on the voting ledger as Velma B. Pardue, which reflects the last name of her attesting witness, Dorothy Pardue. As there is doubt as to the identity of the individual who actually cast the ballot, we affirm the special tribunal's decision to invalidate this ballot. Cain failed to sign her ballot envelope. An X does appear on the signature line of the ballot envelope yet another person failed to indicate that she was making her mark to indicate that she could not write. Since there is no signature on the ballot envelope, we uphold the special tribunal's ruling to invalidate her vote. ¶ 14. Boyd asserts that certain ballots should be invalidated because they lack notary seals in violation of Miss.Code Ann. § 23-15-631 (2000). However, the ballots in question either do contain some sort of seal or are signed in conjunction with § 23-15-631(c)'s exception to the seal requirement for voters who are temporarily or permanently disabled. Additionally, there is no evidence of fraud or intentional wrongdoing. Boyd's contentions regarding these ballots are without merit. ¶ 15. Boyd assigns error to the special tribunal's refusal to invalidate a number of absentee ballots that were twice-attested. See Miss.Code Ann. § 23-15-635 (Rev.2001). We will only consider the votes attested twice by Sherry Buckles because Boyd failed to preserve any record of the other votes he alleges should be invalidated. Am. Fire Prot., Inc. v. Lewis, 653 So.2d 1387, 1390 (Miss.1995). Sherry Buckles completed both the certificate of the attesting witness and the certificate of person providing voter assistance on the back of absentee ballot envelopes of fourteen physically disabled voters. Boyd argues such a double attestation invalidates the ballots because the certificate of the attesting witness requires the witness to swear that the voter voted out of the witness' presence without any solicitation or advice, while the voter assistance certificate requires the witness to swear that the voter required assistance and such assistance was provided by the witness. Buckles testified that any mistakes were completely unintentional and that she had no intent to defraud or mislead anyone. The special tribunal did not invalidate these votes. Looking at the ballot envelopes, two of the three headings in bold print read Certificate of Attesting Witness and Certificate of Person Providing Voter Assistance. While only one of the certificates should have been filled out by Buckles, it is easy to envision how one could view themself as both an attesting witness and one providing voter assistance when dealing with a physically disabled voter. Such a mistake is certainly of a technical nature. Straughter, 819 So.2d at 1252. With no evidence of fraud or wrongdoing, there is nothing in the record to justify overturning the special tribunal's determination that the votes should not be invalidated because of this technical irregularity. ¶ 16. Finally, Boyd submits that the special tribunal erred in failing to invalidate ballots based on a failure of the questioned ballots' applications to include a reason for voting absentee. See Miss.Code Ann. §§ 23-15-623 & -627 (Rev.2001). There are three ballots that do not state a reason for voting absentee. However, the applications for these absentee ballots were filled out and notarized by the circuit clerk, strengthening the integrity of the applications and rendering the lack of a reason for absentee voting a technicality that does not justify invalidating the three votes.