House Bill 119

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-11, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH A PERSON BECOMES A DISQUALIFIED ELECTOR; TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-19 AND 23-15-151, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE REGISTRAR AND CIRCUIT CLERK TO KEEP A RECORD OF THE CONVICTED PERSONS WHOSE RIGHT TO VOTE HAS BEEN RESTORED AFTER MEETING THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE STATE CONSTITUTION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 23-15-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-11. Every inhabitant of this state, except idiots and insane persons, who is a citizen of the United States of America, eighteen (18) years old and upwards, who has resided in this state for thirty (30) days and for thirty (30) days in the county in which he offers to vote, and for thirty (30) days in the incorporated city or town in which he offers to vote, and who shall have been duly registered as an elector pursuant to Section 23-15-33, and who has never been convicted of a felony, except as provided by Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, shall be a qualified elector in and for the county, municipality and voting precinct of his residence, and shall be entitled to vote at any election. Any person who will be eighteen (18) years of age or older on or before the date of the general election and who is duly registered to vote not less than thirty (30) days prior to the primary election associated with such general election, may vote in such primary election even though such person has not reached his or her eighteenth birthday at the time such person offers to vote at such primary election. No others than those above included shall be entitled, or shall be allowed, to vote at any election.

SECTION 2. Section 23-15-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-19. (1) Any person who has been convicted of a felony as provided in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, shall not be registered, or if registered the name of such person shall be erased from the registration book on which it may be found by the registrar or by the election commissioners. Whenever any person shall be convicted in the circuit court of his county of any felony, the registrar shall thereupon erase his name from the registration book; and whenever any person shall be convicted of any of a felony in any other court of any county, the presiding judge thereof shall, on demand, certify the fact in writing to the registrar, who shall thereupon erase the name of such person from the registration book and file said certificate as a record of his office.

(2) The registrar shall place upon the registration book the name of any person whose right to vote has been restored as provided by Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890.

SECTION 3. Section 23-15-151, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-151. The circuit clerk of each county is authorized and directed to prepare and keep in his office a full and complete list, in alphabetical order, of persons convicted of a felony as provided in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, and keep a record of those convicted persons whose right to vote has been restored as provided by Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890. Said clerk shall enter the names of all persons who have been or shall be hereafter convicted of a felony as provided in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, in a book prepared and kept for that purpose and also record those convicted persons whose right to vote has been restored as provided by Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890. The board of supervisors of each county shall, as early as practicable, furnish the circuit clerk of their county with a suitable book for the enrollment of said names showing the name, date of birth, address, court, crime and date of conviction, and date of restored right to vote. Said roll, when so prepared, shall be compared with the registration book before each election commissioner of the county. A certified copy of any enrollment by one clerk to another will be sufficient authority for the enrollment of such name, or names, in another county.

SECTION 4. 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 5. 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.