South Mississippians cast their votes in the primary election

Since 7 o’clock this morning, South Mississippians have been stopping by their precincts to cast their ballots.

Armed with signs, Gulfport resident Roger Brokaw took his message to the street, campaigning for the candidates of his choice in Tuesday’s primary election. “I’ve been here since 1977. Every year I’ve been here, I have voted in every election. I’ve only had to do it absentee one time, but when the polls are open, I show up.”

“It’s been slow,” said Brokaw. “It’s been slow, but this is really an off-cycle. It’s not a presidential cycle and that’s when everyone comes out.”

Harrison County Circuit Clerk Connie Ladner says she and her crew have been preparing the past two months for Tuesday’s primaries as if every eligible voter in the county was to exercise their right to vote.  Those votes, she says, will be safeguarded.

With one in five Americans casting ballots nationwide on machines that do not produce a paper record of their votes, Ladner says while Harrison County ballots use the latest technology they are also safe guarded against cyberattacks and hackers. “We have the touch screen machine which is called ‘Express Vote.’ You can vote on the touch screen, but you still have a ballot you can actually see once you vote. You put it in the scanner so everything has a paper back up so if anything should happen, we can rely on the actual ballots that people voted.”

With six Democratic candidates on the ticket for one race, there’s a high likelihood of a possible runoff. If one candidate does not secure 50 percent plus one vote in that race, a runoff will take place June 26^th.