Ward 5 runoff absentee voting ends Saturday
TUPELO — The last day of absentee voting to determine who will represent Ward 5 on the Tupelo City Council is quickly approaching.
Saturday will be the final day for individuals to vote via absentee ballot in the Ward 5 runoff election between Republican candidates Stephen Coon and Bentley Nolan. Election Day proper is April 22.
Coon is a design engineer at Tiffin Motorhomes. Nolan is the manager of Nolan Brothers Motor Sales.
The winner of the April 22 runoff will move on to the June 3 general election, where he'll face Democrat Candria Lewis for a chance to replace outgoing incumbent Republican Buddy Palmer. Palmer, a longtime member of the city council, did not seek reelection.
Nolan edged out Coon in the April 1 primary with 261 votes, which totals 47%. Coon received 36% of the votes while their opponent Mike Horton got 16%. The lack of a majority sparked the runoff between the Top 2 candidates.
Absentee voting in municipal elections follows the same guidelines as those of general elections. Those who qualify for absentee voting include individuals staying outside of their primary residence, such as university students, and teachers of any grade; individuals who will be out of town on election day; the parent or spouse of someone with a temporary or permanent physical disability that is hospitalized at least 50 miles away from their primary residence or otherwise cannot vote on election day; any individual over the age of 65; congressional delegates and their spouses; and people working at the times polls are open.
Tupelo City Hall is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. While closed on Friday, City Hall will be open Saturday, April 19, from 8 a.m. to noon. That will be the last chance to vote absentee.
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