WOODVILLE — The general election scheduled for Tuesday in Wilkinson County will continue as planned.

Sheriff Reginald “Pip” Jackson will face independent challenger Calvin Gaines.

Jackson, the incumbent candidate, had filed a motion to delay the election because early voting did not begin when it was supposed to.

Judge Jim Persons heard arguments for and against the motion Wednesday, and he released his ruling Thursday afternoon.

During testimony Wednesday, it was revealed that not only did the absentee voting begin after it was supposed to, but also that at one point the form of the ballots used was changed.

Wilkinson County Election Commission President Robert Arbuthnott said part of the delay was caused because the election commission could not order ballots until the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office finished the state skeletal ballot.

Arbuthnott also said there was some confusion about the role and involvement of the special masters and who was supposed to order the ballots for the election.

Though there were some irregularities in the pre-election proceedings, the court did not have the authority to alter the election date, Persons wrote in his ruling.

The request to delay the election was improper because there is already a statutory remedy to any challenges to how an election was operated by way of an election contest, Persons wrote.

This decision also means that Circuit Clerk-elect Lynn Tolliver Delaney will be allowed to take office as soon as the votes from the general election are certified in the days following the election, per Person’s March ruling that the winners of the election be sworn into office immediately after vote certification.