MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1998 Regular Session

To: Apportionment and Elections

By: Representative Broomfield

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-309, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CHANGE THE MUNICIPAL QUALIFYING DEADLINE FROM THIRTY DAYS BEFORE AN ELECTION TO SIXTY-FIVE DAYS BEFORE AN ELECTION; TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-649 AND 23-15-683, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CHANGE FROM FORTY-FIVE TO SIXTY THE NUMBER OF DAYS BEFORE A MUNICIPAL ELECTION IN WHICH ABSENTEE BALLOTS MUST BE PREPARED AND PRINTED BY THE ELECTION OFFICIALS; TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-629, 23-15-685 AND 23-15-715, 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 23-15-309, 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 sixty-five (65) days before the first primary election, no later than 5:00 p.m. on such 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 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 with which such person is affiliated. The clerk shall keep an itemized account in detail showing the time and date of the receipt of such payment received by him, from whom such payment was received, the party with which such 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. Such 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 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 such charge upon which a candidate has fled has not been dismissed. If the proper municipal executive committee finds that a candidate is not a qualified elector, or that such 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 such 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 such candidate the nominee.

SECTION 2. Section 23-15-649, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-649. (1) For all elections, there shall be prepared and printed by the officials charged with this duty with respect to the election, as soon as the deadline for the qualification of candidates has passed or forty-five (45) days before the election, whichever is later, official ballots for each voting precinct to be known as absentee voter ballots, which ballots shall be prepared and printed in the same form and shall be of the same size and texture as the regular official ballot except that they shall be printed on tinted paper of a tint different from that of the regular official ballot.

For all municipal elections, there shall be prepared and printed by the officials charged with this duty with respect to the election, as soon as the deadline for the qualification of candidates has passed or sixty (60) days before the election, whichever is later, official ballots for each voting precinct to be known as absentee voter ballots, which ballots shall be prepared and printed in the same form and shall be of the same size and texture as the regular official ballot except that they shall be printed on tinted paper of a tint different from that of the regular official ballot.

SECTION 3. Section 23-15-683, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-683. In any elections, as soon as the deadline for the qualification of candidates has passed, or forty-five (45) days before the election, whichever is later, absentee ballots shall be prepared and printed for the elections, and both of the ballots shall have printed thereon the names of all candidates who originally qualify as candidates. In any municipal election, as soon as the deadline for the qualification of candidates has passed, or sixty (60) days before the election, whichever is later, absentee ballots shall be prepared and printed for the elections, and both of the ballots shall have printed thereon the names of all candidates who originally qualify as candidates. However, the ballots shall be printed on paper of different tints or colors and shall be styled so as to show which ballot is to be used for the first election and which ballot is to be used for the second election.

When the proper application is made as is otherwise provided herein, the registrar shall send to the absent voter the proper absent voter ballots for the elections as * * * provided herein, and with the ballots there shall be sent * * * separate official envelopes for the return thereof. No additional ballot shall be * * * sent to the absent voter for the second election, but the absent voter shall ascertain which of the candidates who originally qualified are candidates in the second election and he or she may vote for his choice between them on the second election ballot previously sent to him. If an absentee voter shall vote for any candidate on the second election ballot who is not a candidate in the second election, his vote for that office shall be disregarded.

SECTION 4. Section 23-15-629, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-629. (1) The application for an absentee ballot of a person who is permanently physically disabled may be accompanied by a statement signed and sworn to by the person's physician, or nurse practitioner, which statement must show that the affiant is a licensed, practicing medical doctor or nurse practitioner and must indicate that the person is permanently physically disabled.

(2) An application accompanied by the statement provided for in subsection (1) of this section shall entitle the permanently physically disabled person to automatically receive an absentee ballot for all elections on a continuing basis without the necessity for reapplication.

(3) The registrar of each county shall keep an accurate list of the names and addresses of all persons whose applications for absentee ballot are accompanied by the statement set forth in subsection (1) of this section. Sixty-five (65) days before each election, the registrar shall deliver the list to the county commissioners of election and the municipal commissioners of election who shall examine the list and delete from it the names of all persons listed who are no longer qualified electors of the county or municipality. Upon completion of the examination, the commissioners of election shall return the list to the registrar by no later than sixty (60) days before the election.

(4) The registrar shall send a ballot to all persons who are determined by the commissioners of election to be qualified electors pursuant to subsection (3) of this section by no later than forty-five (45) days before the election.

(5) The registrar shall send a ballot to all persons who are determined by the commissioners of election to be qualified electors pursuant to subsection (3) of this section by no later than fifty-five (55) days before any municipal election.

SECTION 5. Section 23-15-685, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-685. (1) Within forty-five (45) days next before any election upon application first made to the registrar of the county by any absent voter as defined in this subarticle, that person shall be sent an absentee voter ballot and an affidavit of registration of the county of which he is a citizen and resident. The registrar shall send to the absent voter a proper absentee voter ballot containing the names of all candidates who qualify or the proposition to be voted upon in the elections, and with the ballot there shall be sent an official envelope containing upon it in printed form the recitals and data hereinafter required.

Within sixty (60) days next before any municipal election upon application first made to the registrar of the municipality by any absent voter as defined in this subarticle, that person shall be sent an absentee voter ballot and an affidavit of registration of the municipality of which he is a citizen and resident. The registrar shall send to the absent voter a proper absentee voter ballot containing the names of all candidates who qualify or the proposition to be voted upon in the elections, and with the ballot there shall be sent an official envelope containing upon it in printed form the recitals and data hereinafter required.

SECTION 6. Section 23-15-715, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-715. Any elector desiring an absentee ballot as provided in this subarticle may secure same if:

(a) Not more than sixty (60) days before any municipal election and not more than forty-five (45) days before any other election, but not later than 12:00 noon on the Saturday 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, he shall appear in person before the registrar of the county in which he resides, or for municipal elections he shall appear in person before the city clerk of the municipality in which he resides and, when the elector so appears, he shall execute and file an application as provided in Section 23-15-627 and vote by absentee ballot, except that if the ballot has not been printed by forty-five (45) days preceding the election or sixty (60) days preceding a municipal election, the elector may appear and file an application anytime before the election. Then the absentee ballot shall be mailed by the circuit clerk to the elector as soon as the ballot has been printed.

(b) Within forty-five (45) days next before any election or sixty (60) days next before a municipal election, any elector who cannot comply with paragraph (a) of this section by reason of temporarily residing outside the county, or any person who has a temporary or permanent physical disability, persons who are sixty-five (65) years of age or older, or any person who is the parent, spouse or dependent of a temporarily or permanently physically disabled person who is hospitalized outside of his county of residence or more than fifty (50) miles away from his residence and the parent, spouse or dependent will be with that person on election day, may make application for an absentee ballot by mailing the appropriate application to the registrar. Only persons temporarily residing out of the county of their residence, persons having a temporary or permanent physical disability, persons who are sixty-five (65) years of age or older, or any person who is the parent, spouse or dependent of a temporarily or permanently physically disabled person who is hospitalized outside of his county of residence or more than fifty (50) miles away from his residence, and the parent, spouse or dependent will be with that person on election day, may obtain absentee ballots by mail under the provisions of this subsection and as provided by Section 23-15-713. Applications of persons temporarily residing outside the county shall be sworn to and subscribed before an official who is authorized to administer oaths or other official authorized to witness absentee balloting as provided in this chapter, the application to be accompanied by the verifying affidavits as required by this chapter. The applications of persons having a temporary or permanent physical disability shall not be required to be accompanied by an affidavit, but shall be witnessed and signed by a person eighteen (18) years of age or older. The registrar shall send to the absent voter a proper absentee voter ballot within twenty-four (24) hours, or as soon thereafter as the ballots are available, containing the names of all candidates who qualify or the proposition to be voted on in the election, and with the ballot there shall be sent an official envelope containing upon it in printed form the recitals and data hereinafter required.

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.