Public Service Commissioner candidate disqualified, plans appeal

MISSISSIPPI (WCBI) – A Northern District Public Service Commissioner candidate is disqualified from running in the race.

Amanda Gunasekara put her name on the ballot to run.

However, Matthew Barton, a Desoto County attorney, asked the courts to remove her.

At issue was how long the former Trump administration appointee had lived in Mississippi. You must have lived in the state five years before the general election to be a candidate.

Special Judge Lamar Pickard said evidence showed Gunasekara voted on November 6, 2018, in the District of Columbia, as a resident there.

She would then have to be an official resident of Mississippi on the very next day in order to qualify. Pickard said that didn’t happen until the spring of 2019.

Gunasekara told WCBI she plans to appeal the ruling.

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