The Clock’s Ticking Down as Cities Prepare for Tuesday’s Municipal Primaries Election

April 5, 2021

“This will be one of our voting precincts, and we will be ready to roll for the election,” said Margaret Murdock, Election Coordinator for the City of Gulfport with a grin early Monday afternoon at the Handsboro Community Center precinct in Gulfport.

It’s the final countdown on this Municipal Primary Election Day Eve, and while voters won’t head to the polls until Tuesday, precincts throughout Gulfport have been busy with activity.

“We are setting up all 19 precincts. We have a crew out doing that today, and all is going fairly smoothly, or at least as smoothly as you can expect on something like this,” Murdock said.

Across city lines in Biloxi, poll workers are getting armed with what they need, too, for the big day.

Cecilia Dobbs-Walton, Public Affairs Specialist for the City of Biloxi said, “Poll managers will be going throughout the city, coming to City Hall today, to get their election equipment, to get the polls ready for 7 am in the morning. They’ll have the ballots, the hand sanitizer, everything to get prepared.”

Regardless of where you cast your vote, you will have stick to strict rules on Tuesday.

“In primaries, under Mississippi law, you have to pick either Republican or Democrat, and vote in one primary or another. You don’t have the ability to swap around,” Murdock said, but on the June 8^th General Election day, “You can vote Republican or Democrat, or how ever you’d like to vote.”

Election coordinators also suggest all voters double check their assigned voting precinct for Tuesday.

“Be sure and check your voter registration card. That will tell you where you vote in the municipal elections. One thing to note-where you vote in municipal elections may not be where you voted for President, so if you don’t have your voter registration card handy, we would strongly encourage Gulfport voters to call 3-1-1 , and our 3-1-1 operators are standing by to help you figure out where you vote,” Murdock said.

if no one candidate gets the majority of their party’s vote in Tuesday’s race, the top two candidates will square off in a runoff on April 27^th, and the runoff winner will appear on the June 8th General Election Ballot.