The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gov. Haley R. Barbour that the special election for former Sen. Trent Lott's seat should be held on Nov. 4.
In doing so the court denied an appeal by Attorney General Jim Hood of an earlier Circuit Court ruling by Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Bobby DeLaughter that the special election should be held on or before March 19.
The court ruled in an 8-1 vote that while state statute clearly required a special election to be set, the law was unclear as to when the election date must be. In such a case, the eight justices in the majority ruled, the governor has the ultimate authority for deciding the special election date.
"In the case before us today, the Statute clearly provides that an election must be set, but is ambiguous as to when the election must be set," reads part of the majority opinion. "Governor Barbour's decision to set the election for the same date as the 2008 general election is a "permissible construction of the statute." His decision violates neither the Seventeenth Amendment nor any other constitutional provision or statute."
Hood had argued before the courts that state law required the special election to be held within 90 days of Lott's resignation from the office.
Justice James E. Graves, Jr., in his written dissent, called the majority opinion "gobbledygook."
"The office of the Governor does not exist to decide when elections are held; that power rests with the Legislature. Nor is the Governor responsible for formulating policy or rules to fill any gap in the applicable statutes," Graves wrote.
In a statement, Barbour said: "This decision by the State Supreme Court means that a million Mississippians will vote on who will be their next United States Senator. As I said from the beginning, having this important election on November 4, 2008, is in the best interests of the state, the voters, and all the people."
The full Supreme Court opinion may be viewed at: http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/Images/Opinions/CO47168.pdf
