By Alabama Public Radio
north Mobile County AL – Concerns over the way absentee voting is conducted have already been raised by some officials and civic groups in the Black Belt. Now, an election for a north Mobile County water board has been cancelled for a second time amid those same concerns. Both candidates in the race for a board position say the other has invalid proxy votes. Incumbent Cleo Phillips cancelled the first election in April claiming there was a problem with those votes. Then his challenger James "Buddy" Bryan filed for a restraining order to block the second election until a judge could investigate the matter. Bryan says the original election should not have been cancelled. The race has been heated, with Phillips reportedly shoving Bryan in public at one point. The election was scheduled for Thursday, but has been postponed until a later date. The men are vying for a seat on the LeMoyne Water System board, which serves about 12-hundred homes in Axis and Creola.