NATCHEZ — As of Thursday afternoon, 435 Democrat and 32 Republican primary absentee ballots had been cast at the circuit clerk’s office in Adams County.

Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon is the last day to cast an absentee vote at the Adams County Courthouse for those who cannot get to the polls Tuesday.

Absentee voter Kathy Tillman penned her signature over the absentee ballot envelope flap Thursday in order to make sure it was sealed correctly.

“You have got to do it just right,” Tillman said. “Or it won’t get counted.”

Tillman has voted absentee for the last several years because she works in Jackson at Belhaven University, she said.

Tillman said she makes sure to vote before Election Day if she cannot make it on Election Day for every election because it is her right.

“A lot of people died for us to be able to do this,” Tillman said.

Voters can qualify for absentee voting if they cannot be in town during Election Day, are older than 65 or if they are permanently or temporarily physically disabled.

Only those absentee ballots cast at the circuit clerk’s office or delivered by U.S. mail to the circuit clerk’s office by July 30 will be counted.

Further instructions and application requests for absentee voting can be answered by calling the Adams County Circuit Clerk’s office at 601-446-6326.

Only one contested local race, the one for senate seat 37, will be on the Republican ballot Tuesday.

Since the only two candidates on the state level running for lieutenant governor — Sen. Billy Hewes of Gulfport and state Treasurer Tate Reeves of Rankin County — are Republicans, the Republican primary will determine the winner.

Mississippi voters can choose which primary to vote in, but voting in both parties’ primaries is a misdemeanor offense, said Pamela Weaver, the director of communications for the Office of the Mississippi Secretary of State.

Tillman said she chose candidates based on researching their records, reading some of the campaign literature and talking with others about their opinions before deciding for herself.

Tillman said she felt good about her choices on the ballot.

“Hopefully everyone feels good about their (candidate) choices or they wouldn’t choose them,” Tillman said.