MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2006 Regular Session
To: Apportionment and Elections
By: Representative Reynolds
AN ACT TO PROHIBIT EXIT POLLING; TO PROVIDE THAT ANY PERSON WHO VIOLATES THE PROHIBITION SHALL BE FINED $5,000; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. (1) It shall be unlawful for any person, for the purpose of broadcasting, publishing or otherwise announcing the number of votes that a candidate has received in an election before the polls have closed, to ask a voter or to compensate another person to ask a voter, upon exiting or immediately after exiting a polling place, the name or party affiliation of the candidate for whom the voter has cast a ballot in the election.
(2) Any person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a fine of not less than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), or imprisoned not less than ten (10) days nor more than ninety (90) days, or both such fine and imprisonment.
SECTION 2. 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 3. 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.