Judge: Lawsuit can advance in Mississippi election dispute
Source: Associated Press
Emily Wagster Pettus, Associated Press Updated 7:31 pm, Friday, January 27, 2017
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Five voters can move forward with a lawsuit that claims their constitutional rights were violated when Mississippi lawmakers tossed out their ballots in a 2015 election, a federal judge ruled Friday.
U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves ruled that the federal court lacks jurisdiction to decide the outcome of the state House race between Democrat Bo Eaton and Republican Mark Tullos.
However, Reeves said the five voters who filed suit can pursue their claim that their own constitutional guarantee of equal protection was violated.
Eaton, a farmer from Taylorsville, sought a sixth term in 2015 in a rural district south of Jackson. The race between him and Tullos, who's an attorney from Raleigh, went to a tiebreaker that Eaton won in a drawing of straws overseen by the secretary of state.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Judge-Lawsuit-can-advance-in-Mississippi-10890175.php