MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1997 Regular Session

To: Apportionment and Elections

By: Representative Chaney

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-637, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT ABSENTEE BALLOTS SHALL BE CAST NOT LATER THAN 5:00 P.M. ON THE MONDAY IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING ELECTIONS HELD ON TUESDAY; TO PROVIDE THAT ANY PERSON WHO HAS VOTED BY ABSENTEE BALLOT MAY VOTE AT THE PRECINCT AND THIS ABSENTEE BALLOT SHALL BE DISQUALIFIED; TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-639, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT THE REGISTRAR SHALL STORE ABSENTEE BALLOTS, WHICH HAVE BEEN TIMELY CAST, IN A SEPARATE BALLOT BOX; TO PROVIDE THAT THE CIRCUIT CLERK OR HIS DESIGNEE SHALL COUNT THE ABSENTEE BALLOTS; TO PROVIDE THAT EACH CANDIDATE OR HIS DESIGNEE SHALL OBSERVE THE COUNTING OF THE ABSENTEE BALLOTS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 

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

SECTION 1. Section 23-15-637, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-637. Absentee ballots received by mail, excluding presidential ballots as provided for in Sections 23-15-731 and 23-15-733, must be received by the registrar by 5:00 p.m. on the date preceding the election; any received after such time shall be handled as provided in Section 23-15-647 and shall not be counted. All ballots cast by the absent elector appearing in person in the office of the registrar shall be cast not later than 5:00 p.m. on the Monday immediately preceding elections held on Tuesday, the Thursday immediately preceding elections held on Saturday, or the second day immediately preceding the date of elections held on other days. The registrar shall deposit all absentee ballots which have been timely cast in the ballot boxes upon receipt. The registrar shall forward to each precinct a list of persons in that precinct who have voted by absentee ballot. Any person who previously cast an absentee ballot shall be allowed to vote at the precinct in which he is registered and the absentee ballot cast previously by that person shall be disqualified and void.

SECTION 2. Section 23-15-639, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-639. The registrar shall deposit all absentee ballots which have been timely cast in a separate ballot box for absentee ballots exclusively. The separate ballot box shall remain in the registrar's office throughout the election process. Immediately following the counting of all regular ballots cast at the polling places, the officials in charge of the elections shall meet with the registrar at a suitable location within the courthouse designated by the registrar for the purpose of counting all lawfully cast absentee ballots. The registrar or the deputy clerk shall first take the envelopes containing the absentee ballots of such electors from the box, and the name, address and precinct inscribed on each such envelope shall be announced by the registrar or the deputy clerk. The signature on the application shall then be compared with the signature on the back of the envelope. If it corresponds and the affidavit, if one is required, is sufficient and the registrar or the deputy clerk finds that the applicant is a registered and qualified voter or otherwise qualified to vote, and that he has not appeared in person and voted at such election, and that all statutory provisions designed to insure the integrity of the ballot have been complied with, the envelope shall then be opened and the ballot removed from the envelope, without its being unfolded, or permitted to be unfolded or examined. Having observed and found the ballot to be regular as far as can be observed from its official endorsement, the registrar or the deputy clerk shall * * * enter the voter's name in the receipt book provided for that purpose and mark "VOTED" in the pollbook or poll list as if he had been present and voted in person. When all absentee ballot envelopes and applications have been examined as prescribed above, the registrar or his deputy shall immediately give all valid absentee ballots to the officials in charge of the election who shall insure that they are properly counted and that the total of the absentee ballots are added to the votes cast in the voting machine or device in the same precinct in which the absentee ballots were cast. The entire procedure described above shall be carried out in full view of the public and the registrar or the deputy clerk shall assign each candidate or his designee a suitable position from which he may view the process.

SECTION 3. 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 4. 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.