Jackson Free Press

When Mississippians vote this November, they may find the hotly contested U.S. Senate race between Roger Wicker and Ronnie Musgrove buried near the end of the ballot.

On Tuesday, Gov. Haley Barbour approved Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann's recommendation that the Wicker-Musgrove race appear at the end of the ballot, with other special elections, rather than alongside other federal-level races.

Hours after the governor's decision, Pike County Election Commissioner Trudy Berger filed a lawsuit in Hinds County Circuit Court protesting the special election's placement on the ballot. In response, Judge Tomie Green issued a temporary restraining order to prevent the ballots' distribution until a hearing.

Hosemann justified his recommendation with Mississippi Code 23-15-511, which requires general election candidates be "clearly distinguished" from special election candidates. Attorney General Jim Hood opposed Hosemann's proposal, but he cannot vote on the ballot's design.

Musgrove's campaign called the ballot "unlawful," citing another Mississippi code, 23-15-367, which states that the names of candidates for national office should precede those of all other candidates.

"It is a poor decision," said Adam Bozzi, a spokesman for the Musgrove campaign. "I'll let the secretary of state answer to his own motives, and I'll let the governor answer to his own motives. But it clearly has nothing to do with the law, because the law is clear in this case."