NATCHEZ &045; As polling time draws near, the Adams County Circuit Clerk’s Office fields more and more questions about the election process.

So this year, Circuit Clerk M.L. &uot;Binkey&uot; Vines thought he would give voters the opportunity to get all their questions answered at once by state election officials themselves.

An election law forum will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday in the circuit courtroom on the second floor of the Adams County Courthouse.

Officials available to answer questions will include Secretary of State Eric Clark, assistant secretaries of state Leslie Scott and Reese Partridge and a representative of the State Attorney General’s Office.

At Thursday’s meeting, voters and candidates can ask questions about how current redistricting lines, which are posted on the walls of the courthouse, will affect them, Vines said.

Although the Circuit Clerk’s Office has gotten questioned about such issues as redistricting, &uot;the focus Thursday is going to be on things like absentee ballot laws, since we’ve gotten a lot of questions on that,&uot; said Deputy Circuit Clerk Marjorie Alexander.

In addition, the Circuit Clerk’s Office has heard that, due to such factors as local residents being deployed with the military, there could be a rise in absentee ballots this year, she said.

The program will include a general overview of state and federal election laws and absentee balloting procedures.

Questions about registration, qualification of candidates and new national Voting Registration Act requirements will also be addressed.

The Circuit Clerk’s Office will also have deputy clerks available at Thursday’s meeting to assist voters in determining their proper precinct.

In addition, Vines said he encourages those interested in becoming poll workers to attend Thursday’s meeting.

Members of county executive committees will be on hand to process prospective election workers’ applications.