A decision will come “in due course” in the dispute over where on the Nov. 4 ballot the special Senate election will go, the state’s chief justice said after oral arguments Wednesday.
For almost two hours, the state Supreme Court heard from attorneys involved in a lawsuit challenging Gov. Haley Barbour’s placement of the Ronnie Musgrove-Roger Wicker race at the bottom of the Nov. 4 general election ballot.
Barbour’s attorney, John Henegan, conceded that the governor did not have to put the contest near the bottom, but he contended because the law is silent on where the special election should be, the court is required to give “deference” to Barbour’s decision.
Seven of the nine justices participated in the hearing. Justices Ann Lamar and Charles “Chuck” Easley did not, and it was not clear Wednesday whether they would participate in a decision, which Chief Justice James Smith said would come “in due course.”
Some contend ballot placement could make a difference in the outcome of a close race. Studies indicate that fewer people vote in contests at the bottom of the ballot than at the top.
While Musgrove is not a party to the lawsuit, he has said he supports putting the election at the top – as he said the law dictates. Wicker has taken no position.
“We could have done this ballot in a different way, we acknowledge,” Henegan said during what was at times intense questioning of both sides by the justices. But when the law is silent on an issue – such as ballot placement of the special election – “the executive decision should be given great weight and deference.”
Henegan said past practices also gave the governor leeway to place the election at the bottom of the ballot.
At times the justices appeared to tip off their opinions by their questions. Justices Oliver Diaz and James Graves asked questions that indicated they also thought the law is clear that the Senate contest should be at the top as, to a lesser extent, did Justice Jess Dickinson.
NE MS Daily Journal
9/18/8
Magnolia Tribune
