12:27pm UPDATE:

Any surprise here? Judge Green ruled in favor of the plaintiff. Barbour and Hosemann are expected to file appeals quickly.

Meanwhile, the New York Times has taken on this story in their editorial section. Again they make it sound like it is some kind of Republican conspiracy. Any doubt that Chuck Schumer is behind some of that? Here's a portion of it. [emphasis mine]

Defying state law, they have decided to hide a hard-fought race for the United States Senate at the bottom of the ballot, where they clearly are hoping some voters will overlook it. Their proposed design is not only illegal. It shows a deep contempt for Mississippi’s voters.

A deep contempt? Not hardly. The fact of the matter is that Musgrove automatically gets and alphabetical order advantage with his name above the incumbents. Statistically speaking that is a bigger factor than the order of the races on the ballot.

Some voters, including the elderly, the least educated and first-time voters, have more trouble than others navigating complicated ballots. Many of these voters are more likely to vote for Democrats than Republicans. And, yes, Governor Barbour and Mr. Hosemann are both Republicans.

Okay. This goes beyond words. Is the haughty NYT editor suggesting that people in Mississippi who vote Democrat are dumb or too old to understand? That is exactly what it says to me. Oh, but what the NYT editor left out of his partisan remarks about the Republican Barbour and Hosemann, is that the little county elections official who filed the lawsuit was a Democrat. And that the judge who ruled the decision took campaign contributions from the Democrat on the ticket, Ronnie Musgrove. So their little partisan poo-flinging just reeks of hypocrisy and bovine excrement. How did they miss those little "trivial" details? The blogosphere didn't have any trouble finding it.

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10:20am UPDATE:

Well, well, well. Look at this little 'coincidence' posted by Alan Lange at Y'all Politics.

It appears that Judge Tommie Green, who happens to be the one who is hearing this ballot case, has had campaign contributions from our friendly felon Richard Scruggs, Congressman Bennie Thompson and former Governor Ronnie Musgrove. Lange has posted evidence of the campaign contributions on his post. I agree with Alan's assessment - she should have to recuse herself from the case due to the conflict.

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7:31am
Recently in my state there has been this controversy brewing over the order of a special election for U.S. Senate on the ballot in November. Here's the story.

When Trent Lott resigned his seat, Governor Haley Barbour appointed Congressman Roger Wicker to the fill the remainder seat until a special election could be held. The special election was set by the governor to coincide with the general election in November. Former Governor Ronnie Musgrove is opposing Wicker on the Democrat ticket.

The law says that special election ballots must be separated from general election ballots so they cannot be mixed in with the general election candidates. This means the special election ballot must either be at the top or the bottom of the ballot. There will be other state-wide races on the general ballot in addition to the presidential race.

Earlier this week, Mississippi's Election Commission, made up of Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, Governor Haley Barbour and Attorney General Jim Hood, voted to put the special election race at the end of the ballot. Hosemann, a Republican, made the recommendation and Barbour, also a Republican accepted it and voted 2-1 in favor of this motion. Hood, a Democrat, opposed the action.

Immediately after the decision, a local Democrat elections commissioner filed a lawsuit complaining that the placement was unfair because it might confuse voters to have the special election race at the end of the ballot. They may be unable to find it. The Musgrove campaign has pinned hopes that a large voter turn out for Obama might help him get the votes he needs to win this very close senate race.

The local county judge placed an injunction on printing the sample ballot until the plaintiff can make her case.

Here's where I get angry. I'm very familiar with the voting machines used in most counties in the state. You cannot cast a ballot and have it print until you have gone all the way to the end of the ballot. Now that doesn't mean you can't skip through and not vote for each race, but you cannot cast the ballot until you scroll to the end. Period. So unless you are a lazy voter or an apathetic one, this is really a no-brainer.

It is insulting to me to assume that when I take the time out of my day to go exercise my right to vote, that I would be too confused or lazy to know how to vote for a candidate at the end of the ballot. Voting is a privilege fought hard for by women who insisted we deserved equal representation and a freedom protected by our soldiers who have bravely fought and died throughout history. I take every single race seriously, whether it is the local county school board member or the U.S. Senate. How dare these people think we are this inept!

And no one seems to be reporting this aspect of the story. No one mentions the voting machines and how they operate. Few have mentioned the great insult this lawsuit is to the voters. And few have given us the benefit of the doubt.

There is nothing unfair about the location of the race. There is nothing confusing about it. This is just Democrat shenanigans at its best and it demonstrates their desperation.