MS-SEN: Even More Ballot Shenanigans

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Wednesday September 10, 2008 · 3:30 PM PDT

2008/09/10 · 15:30

First Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) moved the special election between Interim Senator Roger Wicker (R) and former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove (D) for the remainder of Trent Lott's term from the spring to November to ride a predicted Republican presidential turnout wave. Yesterday, of course, Barbour formalized his intent to have the race hidden at the bottom of the ballot. (Did I mention that his nephew is Wicker's campaign manager?) Right now, the ballot placement is being blocked by a circuit judge.

So Plan A worked, and Plan B's in limbo. What's Plan C?

On election day, the candidates will not be identified by party on the ballot.

Yep. Unlike every other race that appears on the Mississippi ballot (see this 2007 PDF sample), this one won't tell voters which candidate's the Republican. It appears to be the case that under Mississippi law, election officials aren't required to list party affiliations in special elections like this -- they didn't in the MS-01 special election to replace Wicker upon his elevation -- but I can't find anything in Mississippi law which would forbid it either. Which is totally aligned with the candidate websites -- Wicker's is so anodyne that you can't possibly tell his party from the homepage, while Ronnie Musgrove's makes a clear push for a progressive approach to jobs and trade.

So that's the Republican strategy in Mississippi: move the race to their best turnout period, hide it on the bottom of the ballot, hide who the Republican is. Charming.

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MS-SEN: Even More Ballot Shenanigans

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