Candidates were still working Wednesday morning after the Tuesday general election – picking up yard signs and cleaning up after hard-fought campaigns.

Lynwood Easterling, newly elected Adams County Supervisor for District 5, was out early Wednesday picking up his political yard signs.

&uot;We got out there and took all the signs down,&uot; Easterling said.

Easterling added that he is looking forward to his new responsibilities on the Adams County Board of Supervisors.

Newly re-elected District 95 Rep. Andrew Ketchings was out picking up campaign yard signs Wednesday.

&uot;I’m doing my part to clean up Natchez,&uot; Ketchings said. &uot;I’m picking up my yard signs.&uot;

Ketchings was collecting his second truckload of signs late Wednesday.

At that same time, election commissioners were busy certifying ballots in the courthouse.

Bob Barrett, chairman of the Adams County Election Commission, said election commissioners have tabulated eight out of 20 boxes. At this pace, he expected commissioners to complete certifying ballots by Thursday afternoon or Friday morning.

&uot;We’re knee-deep in work,&uot; he said. &uot;Other than a large number of affidavit ballots, we’ve had no problems.&uot;

The election went smoothly, deputy circuit clerk Larry Gardner said, with the exception of power outages at some precincts.

So far, there have been no contested county races, he said, noting that most outcomes were decisive.

&uot;That takes some of the pressure off the election commission when the votes are not real close,&uot; Gardner said.

Most county officials will be sworn into office on Jan. 2 due to the Jan. 1 holiday. Ketchings said the new state legislature will be sworn in at noon Jan. 4.

Some of the newly elected officials will attend training classes prior to taking office.

&uot;For instance, the circuit clerk will attend a pre-training class at the Judicial College in Jackson sometime in December,&uot; Gardner said.

Federal observers from the Voting Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice have left with the conclusion of the election, he said, adding the election seemed to be uneventful for the observers.

&uot;They didn’t seem to take many notes,&uot; Gardner said.