Mississippi's overall voter turnout this year decreased by 75,000 votes from the 2012 general election, but Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann praised the work of the state's 10,000 election workers for their efficient handling of Election Day in a press conference Monday afternoon.
Over 1.2 million votes were cast in Mississippi, along with 104,895 accepted absentee ballots. Out of the state's 1.8 million registered voters, less than 600 were turned away at the polls for improper identification, according to state data.
In Oktibbeha County, 18,051 votes were cast—out of 27,856 registered voters, according to county voting records. Mississippi will cast electoral votes for president Dec. 19 in Jackson, and the state is set to cast six votes for president-elect Donald Trump. In contrast, Oktibbeha County cast 8,859 votes for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, to the Republican's 8,576 votes.
On Nov. 29, county residents will cast ballots in two runoff elections for state supreme and appellate court seats. Attorney John Brady of Columbus and Circuit Judge Bobby Chamberlin of Hernando will face off for a northern district seat on the Mississippi Supreme Court. In the District 3 Court of Appeals, incumbent Jack Wilson will face Ed Hannan in a runoff after the pair remain within 12 percent of each candidate's vote total as of Nov. 15. The deadline for in-person absentee voting in the runoffs is 12 p.m., Nov. 26, at 108 W. Main St.
"Mississippi turned a page in its electoral history this Nov. 8, and those in the state ought to be very proud of what we did," Hosemann said. "A lot of people worked on it, from circuit clerks to election commissioners and our staff worked hard on it. In the end, it was the Mississippi voter that turned that page in history and every one of them had a hand in it, and they ought to be very proud of what they did this last election."
In this year's election, 500 federal observers were sent to 28 states across the country, Hosemann said.
"We have to remember Mississippi's history here," Hosemann said. "The history that we have—we were one of the six states subject to the Voting Rights Act in 1965. That's how we started. This year we had no federal monitors in Mississippi. Before this, and as long as our staff can remember, we had federal monitors in our state."
Leading up to the election, claims were made of possible external interference in the general election, and Hosemann said his staff repelled 5,000 attempts to illegally access the state's voting system. On Election Day, around 130 attempts were made to breach the state's system, and none were successful.
"We have a great IT staff, and they all preformed," Hosemann said.
The secretary of state shied away from the possibility of legislators discussing early voting, while saying he wanted to ensure people knew how to register to vote—while promoting voter education.
State law requires all eligible voters be registered 30 days ahead of an election. If a voter moves counties, information can be updated online through the state's database, or at local circuit clerk offices.
"We still have some work to do among Mississippians about how to prepare for the election," Hosemann said. "As a part of that, you need to realize if you moved and haven't changed your registration, your vote won't count."
Ahead of the race, over 27,000 residents changed addresses on the sos.ms.gov, Y'all Vote website.
"This time, Mississippians came with their proper IDs, and they came without federal monitors and they cast ballots in a peaceful election."