If the City of Selma’s absentee ballot box is to be moved from its current location in City Hall, it will require a court order.

That’s what City Attorney Jimmy Nunn told the Selma City Council and mayoral gathered candidates as Monday’s meeting was re-adjourned Tuesday morning for the express purpose of discussing the box.

Nunn and members of the council spoke with a League of Municipalities representative who said the council couldn’t move it.

“I talked to Ken Smith (of the league) and he stated several reasons why this cannot be done by the city council,” he said.

Nunn added that if a judge changes it, the changes must be approved by the Justice Department and that would throw the August 24 election date in jeopardy.

“Attorney Ken Smith did go over that process with us,” Council President George Evans said. “If we were to even petition a judge it would take some time.”

The question came about when mayoral candidate Glenn King spoke to the council Monday night and asked for the ballot box to be moved.

After discussion, the council decided to recess the meeting until Tuesday when Nunn could speak with league officials and get a ruling on the proper procedure.

While the city council cannot move the box, they can apparently affect the procedures by which the ballots are handled.

Councilwoman Rita Sims Franklin offered her suggestion on how the issue should be resolved.

“It’s very simple, it would not cost us any money,” she said.

Basically, Franklin’s plan involves the handling of absentee ballots from the post office to city hall. The ballots come to the city’s post office box. The post office then would store the ballots in a separate storage box below the city’s regular post office box. At a specific time, two police officers would accompany the person from City Hall designated to pick up the ballots.

The ballots would be counted and sealed together and both officers and the designee would then sign a form stating how many ballots, what time and day they were picked up. Lastly, they would then be fed into the absentee ballot box, which is protected by two locks, at City Hall.

Councilwoman Bennie Ruth Crenshaw asked why the process needed to be changed at all. She asked if certain City employees are untrustworthy.

“Most people want checks and balances, in the past two people have gone,” Franklin said.

“I don’t see the need of it,” Crenshaw said.

Two mayoral candidates, Rev. Glenn King and State Representative Yusef Salaam had asked to be allowed to address the council at Monday’s meeting.

They were on the agenda as citizen’s requests.

King addressed the council and expressed that he just wanted the election to be fair.

Salaam arrived late and was not recognized to speak Monday night.

Neither candidate was recognized at Tuesday’s meeting.

“I cannot acknowledge anyone from the stands,” Evans explained saying that he was simply following the proper procedures. Evans added that in the past the council refused to recognize anyone from the stands after the citizen’s request period was over and he would not break that precedent.

“After the citizens report, we do not take hands from the audience,” he said. “No disrespect to anybody.”

Fellow mayoral candidate Gene Hisel was at both meetings as well, but apparently did not ask to be recognized.

Hisel did issue a statement saying he would support Franklin’s suggestion.

Councilwoman Nancy Sewell reinforced her belief that the council and elected officials should want to give the public the appearance of a fair election.

“We want to give the public an appearance of fairness, equity and justice,” she said. “We have nothing to lose, we have everything to gain.”

Evans then suggested to the council that they ask the mayor to ask City Clerk Lois Williams to hold a work session to explain to candidates the procedures for absentee ballots to set their minds at rest.

Crenshaw objected to adding more duties to Williams’ already busy day.

Councilman Sam Randolph suggested taking the keys to the ballot box and giving them to the sheriff to ensure safekeeping.

“That would take it out of the city’s hands,” he said.

Mayor James Perkins Jr. attended the meeting but watched from the doorway.

He did not offer an opinion. On Monday night, however, he did say he felt like it was unfair to treat city employees with mistrust who had done nothing wrong.

Finally, the council passed a motion to encourage Williams to take under advisement the checks and balances Franklin had suggested.

The resolution passed 7-2 with Crenshaw and Randolph voting against.

The problem stems from a lawsuit filed 12 years ago. After the 1992 election, then- mayoral candidate and current Selma Mayor James Perkins Jr. sued the city.

The court issued a consent decree, which both parties agreed with, that the absentee ballots would be placed in the court house for the 1996 and 2000 elections and that each candidate could appoint members to an election commission that would monitor the votes to ensure a fair process.

Based on the evidence at that point, recognizing the plaintiff had not rested and the defense had not presented any evidence

the decree stated:

“It appears to the Court that problems exist in the manner in which the election was conducted, particularly in the absentee box and the votes cast therein.

The evidence has shown that some, but not all, of the individuals closely connected with the Defendants or the City of Selma, were, at best guilty of negligence and, at worst, guilty of intentional wrongdoing in connection with the absentee election.”

The decree also stated that if any interested party wanted to petition the court for review, the remedy could be extended after a hearing.

That consent decree expired in 2000, meaning the box will be placed back in City Hall as state law requires.

Councilman Glenn Sexton suggested the election be postponed until after the city had received the full audit for the 2002-2003-election year.

Evans asked for a show of hands to see if who would entertain the notion of postponing the election.

Only Sexton and B.L. Tucker raised their hands.