The Southern Truth: Still Fishy in Ward 3? Senatobia’s Ballot Controversy Grows

By Gloria Zuurveen, Editor-in-Chief

Stop the Steal Echoes as Democratic Committee Challenges Certification Process

There are serious concerns brewing in Senatobia, Mississippi, following the recent municipal primary election for Ward 3 Alderman between incumbent Allen “Vashaun” Tanksley and challenger Michael Cathey.

According to The Southern Truth, questions have emerged about whether all votes were properly counted, and whether the election process was fairly administered. Despite a recent article in The Tate Record written by Brett Brown declaring Tanksley the winner, the Tate County Democratic Election Committee is crying foul.

The committee claims they were blocked from conducting a post-election audit—a fundamental part of any transparent democratic process. Instead, the certification was handled solely by two Republican members of the Tate County Election Commission, Mary Claire McClure and Les Young. The lone Democrat on the commission, Charles Wright, said he was unaware of the certification until after it was done. He was informed only by a call from City Hall at 4:48 p.m. on Friday, April 11—allegedly to notify him that a check was ready to be picked up. By the time he followed up, the results had already been certified—without his participation.

Now what’s wrong with this picture?

According to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, post-election audits are essential to ensure accuracy and build voter confidence. But in this case, the Tate County Democratic Committee and Democratic candidate Michael Cathey were denied the opportunity to review the ballots. This directly contradicts the 2025 Municipal Elections Handbook published by the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office, which clearly states that during a primary election, the Municipal Party Executive Committee must meet within one week to canvass the returns, including acceptance or rejection of affidavit ballots. That meeting never happened.

Even more troubling, Senatobia Municipal Clerk Katie Harbin reportedly told the Democratic Committee that they had no authority to review or certify results. Yet in an email sent on Tuesday, April 8 at 7:09 p.m., she asked the committee to certify party nominations for the general election. So which is it?

When the Democratic Committee attempted to certify its nominations—as it had done without issue in Coldwater—it was blocked. The certification instead came from Republican Commissioners without proper bipartisan oversight.

This led one committee member to express frustration, saying the situation is starting to look like a “local version of Stop the Steal”, with partisan forces controlling access to the ballots and keeping legitimate Democratic oversight out of the process.

Meanwhile, Cathey tried to follow state protocol. He requested to review the ballot boxes and attempted to notify Tanksley, as required by law. But he says his texts and phone calls went unanswered. When Cathey showed up at Tanksley’s home to speak with him directly, he says Tanksley got into his vehicle and drove off—ignoring him entirely.

WOW!

More than 60 years after the civil rights movement, it seems the ballot box in Mississippi is still not equally accessible—especially not to those who challenge the status quo or stand in opposition to Republican interests. This appears to be yet another case of partisan interference—pitting one Black man against another while undermining the democratic process.

The people of Senatobia have a right to have their votes counted, fairly and transparently.

And yet… here we go again.

Something fishy is still going on in Ward 3. And this time, the call to ‘Stop the Steal’ might not just be political theater—it might be the reality.