MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1997 Regular Session

To: Apportionment and Elections

By: Representative Denny

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-297, 23-15-299, 23-15-303, 23-15-305 AND 23-15-309, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ALLOW PERSONS TO BE NOMINATED FOR AN ELECTIVE OFFICE BY MORE THAN ONE POLITICAL PARTY; TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-575, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.  

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 23-15-297, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-297. Any person desiring to become a candidate for any political party, at his or her option, may qualify with one or more political parties and become a candidate in an election for party nominations, and that person shall first pay to the proper officer as provided for in Section 23-15-299 for each primary election for any political party whose nomination he or she seeks the following amounts:

(a) Candidates for Governor not to exceed Three Hundred Dollars ($300.00).

(b) Candidates for Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Auditor of Public Accounts, Commissioner of Insurance, Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, State Highway Commissioner and State Public Service Commissioner, not to exceed Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00).

(c) Candidates for district attorney, not to exceed One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).

(d) Candidates for State Senator, State Representative, sheriff, chancery clerk, circuit clerk, tax assessor, tax collector, county attorney, county superintendent of education and board of supervisors, not to exceed Fifteen Dollars ($15.00).

(e) Candidates for county surveyor, county coroner, justice court judge and constable, not to exceed Ten Dollars ($10.00).

(f) Candidates for United States Senator, not to exceed Three Hundred Dollars ($300.00).

(g) Candidates for United States Representative, not to exceed Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00).

SECTION 2. Section 23-15-299, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-299. (1) Assessments made pursuant to paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of Section 23-15-297, and assessments made pursuant to paragraph (d) of Section 23-15-297 for legislative offices for districts composed of more than one (1) county or parts of more than one (1) county, shall be paid by each candidate to the secretary of the state executive committee or state executive committees with which the candidate is affiliated by 5:00 p.m. on March 1 of the year in which the primary election for the office is held or on the date of the qualifying deadline provided by statute for the office, whichever is earlier.

(2) Assessments made pursuant to paragraphs (d) and (e) of Section 23-15-297, other than assessments made for legislative offices for districts containing more than one (1) county or parts of more than one (1) county, shall be paid by each candidate to the circuit clerk of such candidate's county of residence by 5:00 p.m. on March 1 of the year in which the primary election for the office is held or on the date of the qualifying deadline provided by statute for the office, whichever is earlier. The circuit clerk shall forward the fee and all necessary information to the secretary of the proper county executive committee or county executive committees within two (2) business days.

(3) Assessments made pursuant to paragraphs (f) and (g) of Section 23-15-297 must be paid by each candidate to the secretary of the state executive committee or state executive committees with which the candidate is affiliated by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, January 26, 1996, for the presidential preference primary in 1996 and must be paid sixty (60) days before the presidential preference primary in the years after 1996. Assessments made pursuant to paragraphs (f) and (g) of Section 23-15-297, in years when a presidential preference primary is not being held, shall be paid by each candidate to the secretary of the state executive committee or state executive committees with which the candidate is affiliated by 5:00 p.m. on March 1 of the year in which the primary election for the office is held.

(4) The fees paid pursuant to subsections (1), (2) and (3) of this section shall be accompanied by a written statement containing the name and address of the candidate, the party or parties with which he or she is affiliated, and the office for which he or she is a candidate.

(5) The secretary or circuit clerk to whom the payments are made shall promptly receipt for same stating the office for which the candidate making payment is running and the political party or parties with which he or she is affiliated, and he or she shall keep an itemized account in detail showing the exact time and date of the receipt of each payment received by him or her and, where applicable, the date of the postmark on the envelope containing the fee and from whom, and for what office the party paying same is a candidate.

(6) The secretaries of the proper executive committee shall hold the funds to be finally disposed of by order of their respective executive committees. The funds may be used or disbursed by the executive committee receiving same to pay all necessary traveling or other necessary expenses of the members of the executive committee incurred in discharging their duties as committeemen, and of their secretary and may pay the secretary a salary as may be reasonable.

(7) Upon receipt of the proper fee and all necessary information, the proper executive committee or executive committees shall then determine whether or not each candidate is a qualified elector, and whether any candidate has been convicted of any crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, or is a fugitive from justice for this state or any other state, and such charge upon which a candidate has fled has not been dismissed. If the proper executive committee or executive committees finds that a candidate is not a qualified elector, or that the candidate has been convicted of any crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, and not pardoned nor has served his or her sentence, or is a fugitive from justice as aforesaid, then the name of the candidate shall not be placed upon the ballot.

Where there is but one (1) candidate, the proper executive committee when the time has expired within which the names of candidates shall be furnished shall declare the candidate the nominee.

SECTION 3. Section 23-15-303, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-303. When two (2) or more political parties or political organizations are holding primary elections, each shall be conducted entirely independent of the other but at the same time. The vote cast in each primary election shall be counted only in the primary election in which the vote was cast. However, any person may qualify to become a candidate with one or more political parties as provided in Section 23-15-297.

The board of supervisors or the supervisor of the district in which the voting precinct is located shall have authority, and it is made its and his or her duty when requested, to specifically designate the respective places where the precinct election of each party shall be held where there may be a dispute as to the room or exact place for holding the precinct elections.

SECTION 4. Section 23-15-305, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-305. The candidate who received the majority number of votes cast for the office which he seeks shall thereby become the nominee of the party or parties for which he seeks nomination for the office and a person shall not be declared to be the nominee of the party or parties for which he seeks nomination unless and until he has received a majority of the votes cast for the office, except as hereinafter provided. If a candidate does not receive a majority of the votes cast in the first primary, then the two (2) candidates who receive the highest number of votes cast for the office shall have their names submitted as the candidates to the second primary and the candidate who leads in the second primary shall be nominated for the office.

If the candidate who received the second highest number of votes cast for the office for any reason declines to enter the second primary, then in that event the candidate who received the third highest shall have his name submitted to the second primary, together with the candidate who received the highest number of votes cast for the office.

If the candidate who received the third highest number of votes cast for the office for any reason declines to enter the second primary, then in that event the candidate who received the fourth highest shall have his name submitted to the second primary, together with the candidate who received the highest number of votes cast for the office.

If no candidate will enter the second primary with the candidate who received the highest number of votes cast, then the candidate who received the highest number of votes cast in the first primary shall be declared the nominee of the party or parties for which he seeks nomination for the office.

SECTION 5. Section 23-15-309, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-309. (1) Nominations for all municipal officers which are elective shall be made at a primary election, or elections, to be held in the manner prescribed by law. All persons desiring to be candidates for the nomination in the primary elections shall first pay Ten Dollars ($10.00) to the clerk of the municipality, at least thirty (30) days before the first primary election, no later than 5:00 p.m. on the deadline day.

(2) The fee paid pursuant to subsection (1) of this section shall be accompanied by a written statement containing the name and address of the candidate, the party or parties for which he seeks nomination and with which he is affiliated, and the office for which he is a candidate.

(3) The clerk shall promptly receipt the payment, stating the office for which the person making the payment is running and the political party or parties for which he seeks nomination and with which the person is affiliated. The clerk shall keep an itemized account in detail showing the time and date of the receipt of the payment received by him, from whom the payment was received, the party or parties for which he seeks nomination and with which the person is affiliated, and for what office the person paying the fee is a candidate. The clerk shall promptly supply all necessary information and pay over all fees so received to the secretary of the proper municipal executive committee. The funds may be used and disbursed in the same manner as is allowed in Section 23-15-299 in regard to other executive committees.

(4) Upon receipt of the above information, the proper municipal executive committee or executive committees shall then determine whether or not each candidate is a qualified elector, and whether any candidate has been convicted of any crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, or is a fugitive from justice from this state or any other state and the charge upon which a candidate has fled has not been dismissed. If the proper municipal executive committee or executive committees finds that a candidate is not a qualified elector, or that the candidate has been convicted of a felony and not pardoned nor has served his sentence, or is a fugitive from justice as aforesaid, then the name of the candidate shall not be placed upon the ballot.

(5) Where there is but one (1) candidate, the proper municipal executive committee when the time has expired within which the names of candidates shall be furnished shall declare the candidate the nominee.

SECTION 6. Section 23-15-575, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-575. Except as otherwise provided in Sections 23-15-297, 23-15-299, 23-15-303, 23-15-305 and 23-15-309, a person shall not be eligible to participate in any primary election unless he intends to support the nominations made in the primary in which he participates.

SECTION 7. The Attorney General of the State of Mississippi shall submit this act, immediately upon approval by the Governor, or upon approval by the Legislature subsequent to a veto, to the Attorney General of the United States or to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in accordance with the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.

SECTION 8. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the date it is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.