What Quitman County Voters Need to Know for March 10 Primary

Quitman County voters head into Mississippi’s federal primary with a handful of clear deadlines and a few local details to confirm before Election Day. Polls statewide will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 10, and Clarion Ledger and Ballotpedia material make the rules, deadlines, and candidate lists voters need to plan their trip to the polls.

Quick facts every Quitman County voter should know

• Primary election: Tuesday, March 10, 2026. Polls open 7 a.m.–7 p.m. (WLOX; Clarion Ledger)
• In-person absentee: available through county circuit clerks’ offices until noon on Saturday, March 7, 2026. (Clarion Ledger)
• Mail absentee return: must be postmarked by Election Day (March 10) and received within five business days after Election Day to be counted. (Clarion Ledger)
• Military/overseas absentee: may return ballots by fax or email and must do so by 7 p.m. on Election Day. (Clarion Ledger)
• If no candidate wins a majority in a contested primary, the runoff is set for April 7, 2026. (Clarion Ledger; Ballotpedia)
• Candidate filing deadline for federal offices already closed on December 26, 2025. (Ballotpedia)
• These primaries will determine the Democratic and Republican nominees who will appear on the November general election ballot; winners in November serve two-year terms in the U.S. House and six-year terms in the U.S. Senate. (Clarion Ledger)

How absentee voting works in Quitman County (what the Clarion Ledger says) Clarion Ledger provided explicit absentee guidance voters should treat as authoritative for deadlines: “Absentee voting is available for the March 10 primary. In-person absentee voting through county circuit clerks’ offices continues until noon on Saturday, March 7. Absentee ballots returned by mail must be postmarked by Election Day and received within five business days to be counted. Military and overseas voters may return absentee ballots by fax or email by 7 p.m. on Election Day.” If you plan to vote absentee, make note of the noon March 7 cutoff for in‑person pickup or return at the circuit clerk’s office, and ensure mail envelopes meet the postmark/receipt windows.

Polls, open primary rules, and what you can (and cannot) do Mississippi runs open primaries: any registered voter may choose either party’s primary on March 10. Ballotpedia reproduces the state law plainly: “No person shall vote or attempt to vote in the primary election of one (1) party when he or she has voted on the same date in the primary election of another party.” That means you may select which party’s primary you wish to participate in on March 10, but you may not vote in both parties’ primaries the same day.

What’s on the ballot: the federal field as published in sample ballots Clarion Ledger published sample ballots for the Democratic and Republican federal primaries. The candidate blocks in the supplied material read exactly as shown:

• Democratic ballot: Kelvin Buck, Cliff Johnson
• Republican ballot: Trent Kelly

(That initial group appears directly before the labeled 2nd Congressional District block in the Clarion Ledger excerpt; the original sample-ballot file should be checked to confirm which district that grouping represents.)

2nd Congressional District (Central Mississippi, including parts of Jackson and the Delta)

• Democratic ballot: Bennie G. Thompson, Evan Turnage, Pertis Williams III
• Republican ballot: Ron Eller, Kevin Wilson

3rd Congressional District (East Mississippi)

• Democratic ballot: Michael A. Chiaradio
• Republican ballot: Michael Guest

4th Congressional District (South Mississippi and the Coast)

• Democratic ballot: Paul James Blackman, D. Ryan Grover, Jeffrey Hulum III
• Republican ballot: Mike Ezell, Sawyer Walters

Clarion Ledger warned that “In districts where only one candidate qualified for a party’s primary, that candidate automatically advances to November as the party’s nominee.” Use the official sample ballot to verify which contests appear on Quitman County ballots — local precincts may list a different subset depending on district lines.

Candidate backgrounds and priorities published by WLOX WLOX requested candidate bios and three main campaign points from each candidate and published what it received for several entrants. Two submissions reproduced in the source excerpts are:

- Jeffrey Hulum III (Democrat, 4th Congressional District): “Jeffrey Hulum III is a son of Gulfport, a proud graduate of Gulfport Public Schools, and a retired United States Army Sergeant Major who spent 22 years in uniform, completing six combat tours and earning honors including the Bronze Star. But his service did not end when he came home. After returning to South Mississippi, he founded a nonprofit organization that delivers hundreds of thousands of pounds of food to families facing insecurity and supports children, seniors, and veterans with dignity and consistency.”

- Paul James Blackman (Democrat, 4th Congressional District) — priorities from his campaign submission include: 1) “Strengthen Social Security and Expand Retirement Security — Paul supports preserving Social Security as a guaranteed safety net while incorporating universal structured retirement savings that build long-term solvency and personal security — without cutting earned benefits.” 2) “Raise Wages Responsibly — Paul supports eliminating the tipped wage and establishing a base wage that is indexed to inflation so workers do not fall behind as the cost of living rises. He believes full-time work should provide stability and dignity.”

WLOX noted: “WLOX News has been working to bring you information about each of these candidates. We asked each candidate to send their bio and three main campaign points or issues.” Those candidate-submitted materials are useful background, but confirm final candidate lists and qualifications with official election authorities.

Where to find your Quitman County ballot, polling place, and official answers BallotReady lists Quitman County in its county roster (“60. Quitman County”) and offers tools to “View your personalized ballot, check your voter registration, make a plan to vote, and research every name and measure on the ballot with BallotReady.” Clarion Ledger also published statewide sample-ballot pages labeled “Sample ballot: Democratic Federal Primary Election” and “Sample ballot: Republican Federal Primary Election.” However, neither BallotReady nor the Clarion Ledger excerpts included precise Quitman County polling-place addresses or the county circuit clerk contact in the supplied text. For the exact precinct address where you vote, which ballot you will see in your precinct, and whether any local measures or municipal contests are on your ballot, check the Quitman County circuit clerk or the Mississippi Secretary of State’s official election pages before you cast a ballot.

Practical checklist for Quitman County voters (do these now)

• Confirm your polling place address and precinct hours with the Quitman County circuit clerk.
• If you need absentee in person, visit the circuit clerk’s office by noon Saturday, March 7.
• If you’re mailing an absentee ballot, ensure it is postmarked by March 10 and will arrive within five business days.
• Military and overseas voters who plan fax/email return must do so by 7 p.m. on March 10.
• Decide which party’s primary you will vote in — Mississippi law forbids voting in both parties’ primaries on the same day.
• Use BallotReady or the official sample ballots to preview candidates, and verify that initial Clarion Ledger groupings (for example, the unlabeled Kelvin Buck/Cliff Johnson/Trent Kelly block) map to the correct congressional district on your local ballot.

Runoffs and the road to November If no candidate captures a majority in a contested primary, candidates will meet again in a runoff on April 7, 2026. Ballotpedia and Clarion Ledger outline that schedule as part of the broader 2026 calendar: the general election is November 3, 2026, with a possible general runoff on December 1, 2026. Keep those dates in mind—winning March 10 secures a spot on the November ballot, but close races can extend the calendar for voters.

Open questions voters and reporters should resolve now The supplied statewide reporting provides every major deadline and the federal candidate names shown in sample ballots, yet several local facts remain to be confirmed for Quitman County: the exact polling-place locations and precinct assignments; whether any county or municipal races or measures are on March 10 ballots in Quitman County; and whether any last-minute candidate withdrawals or administrative changes altered the ballots since the December 26 filing deadline. The Clarion Ledger material itself noted it provided “information that Quitman County voters needed to plan participation.” To complete planning, obtain the county circuit clerk’s official polling-place list and the certified Quitman County ballot prior to Election Day.

A clear final point March 10 is the gateway that determines Mississippi’s nominees for the fall; voters in Quitman County should use the next few days to confirm their precinct, decide which party’s primary they will enter, and, if needed, secure absentee options by the March 7 in-person deadline or the March 10 mail/postmark window. That preparation is the practical difference between having your ballot counted and being sidelined by a missed deadline.