Mayor Dupree, Pastor Kenneth Fairley, News Media, and another twenty or so Ware and Dupree supporters crowded around the clerks counter as the Municipal election commission eliminated 56 of the affidavit ballots, accepted 40, and have 19 still up for review. The Hattiesburg Patriot was there to video the exchange between the Mayor and the election Commission over their decision to wait until tomorrow to verify the 19 remaining ballots. Dupree was clearly anxious and almost demanding that the commission reveal the outcome of the 40 verified ballots and the other 19 tomorrow. However, City Attorney Charles Lawrence supported the commission in that decision. He told the HP on video that state law required all affidavit ballots to be counted at the same time. Meanwhile, Candidate Dave Ware leaned back against piece of furniture off from the fray, as cool as a cucumber. When asked if he was nervous, Ware simply said, “No.”
Fairley was increasingly anxious, became agitated, and told the HP, “Man, Get that camera out of my face.” “Vice Mayor” aka Assistant to the Mayor, John Brown claimed his moment of irrelevance and chastised the Municipal Election Commission about their handling comments from the audience. George Decoux look as if he wanted to unleash a Jedi mind trick on Downtown Brown, but to no avail. Video is posted below. It speaks for itself. You may need to wait a little bit for the video to buffer, depending on how many people are on the site. Enjoy.
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