MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2021 Regular Session
To: Elections
By: Senator(s) Tate
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-637 AND 23-15-645, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT AN ELECTOR APPEARING IN PERSON TO VOTE ABSENTEE MAY VOTE ON EITHER A DIRECT RECORDING ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEM OR ON A BALLOT THAT IS FED THROUGH AN OPTICAL MARK READING EQUIPMENT MACHINE; TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-715 AND 23-15-717, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT AN ELECTOR WHO VOTES ABSENTEE IN PERSON SHALL NOT BE REQUIRED TO FILL OUT AN APPLICATION; TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-625, 23-15-627, 23-15-631, 23-15-639 AND 23-15-649 MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM; 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. (1) (a) Absentee ballots and applications received by mail, except for fax or electronically transmitted ballots as otherwise provided by Section 23-15-699 for UOCAVA ballots, must be postmarked on or before the date of the election and received by the registrar no more than five (5) business days after the election; any received after such time shall be handled as provided in Section 23-15-647 and shall not be counted.
(b) All ballots cast
by the absent elector appearing in person in the office of the registrar * * * may be cast with an absentee paper
ballot and deposited into a sealed ballot box or may be cast on either a
direct recording electronic voting system or a ballot that is fed through an
optical mark reading equipment machine by the voter, 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. At the close of business each day at the office of the registrar, the
ballot box or voting system used shall be sealed and not unsealed until
the beginning of the next business day, and the seal number shall be recorded
with the number of ballots cast which shall be stored in a secure location in
the registrar's office.
(2) The registrar shall deposit all absentee ballots which have been timely cast and received by mail in a secured and sealed box in a designated location in the registrar's office upon receipt. The registrar shall not send any absentee ballots to the precinct polling locations.
(3) The Secretary of State
shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary to ensure that when a
qualified elector who is qualified to vote absentee votes by absentee ballot,
either by mail * * *,
in person with a regular paper ballot, in person on a direct recording
electronic voting system or in person on a ballot that is fed through an
optical mark reading equipment machine, that person's absentee vote is
final and he or she may not vote at the polling place on election day.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of law to the contrary, the Secretary of
State shall promulgate rules and regulations necessary to ensure that absentee
ballots shall remain in the registrar's office for counting and not be taken to
the precincts on election day.
SECTION 2. Section 23-15-645, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-645. (1) Absentee ballots cast in the registrar's office on a regular paper ballot either the direct recording electronic voting system or a ballot that is fed through an optical mark reading equipment machine and absentee ballots received by mail that are deposited into a sealed ballot box shall be processed on election day but not tallied until after closing of the polls and announced simultaneously with all other votes cast on election day.
(2) After the votes have been counted, the officials shall preserve all applications, envelopes and the list of absent voters along with the mailed paper and paper ballots and other election materials and return the same to the registrar.
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, for federal and presidential general, special or primary elections, packages of protested, void and wholly blank ballots, voted ballots, open packages of unused ballots, sealed packages of unused ballots, and all absentee and military ballots and ballot envelopes, if any, shall be preserved for twenty-two (22) months after the date of any such general, special or primary election. For all other statewide, county or municipal elections, sealed packages of unused ballots, packages of protested, void and wholly blank ballots, open packages of unused ballots and all absentee and military ballots and ballot envelopes shall be retained for four (4) months, and may then be destroyed, provided a certificate articulating the election district identifying data and numbers of such ballots is filed with the balance of ballots described in this section, for the balance of the twenty-two-month retention period.
SECTION 3. 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
forty-five (45) days nor later than 12:00 noon, or 5:00 p.m. during the year
2020, 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 * * * vote by absentee ballot, except that if the ballot has not been
printed by forty-five (45) days preceding the 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 prior to any 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 such parent, spouse or dependent will be with such 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 such parent, spouse or dependent will be with such 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, said application to be accompanied by such 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 such 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 such election, and with such ballot there shall be sent an official envelope containing upon it in printed form the recitals and data hereinafter required.
(c) Except when the voter has requested a runoff ballot on the initial absentee ballot application, upon request for a runoff ballot pursuant to Section 23-15-719, the registrar shall mail together the absentee ballot application and the absentee ballot to the absent voter for the runoff election.
SECTION 4. Section 23-15-717, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-717. (1) Any elector enumerated in Section 23-15-713 applying for an absentee ballot to be voted by mail shall complete an application form as provided in Section 23-15-627, and said elector shall fill in the application as is appropriate for his particular situation.
(2) Any elector enumerated in Section 23-15-713, voting an absentee ballot in person, shall not be required to complete an application form as provided in Section 23-15-627.
SECTION 5. Section 23-15-625, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-625. (1) The registrar shall be responsible for providing applications for absentee voting by mail as provided in this section. At least sixty (60) days before any election in which absentee voting is provided for by law, the registrar shall provide a sufficient number of applications. In the event a special election is called and set at a date which makes it impractical or impossible to prepare applications for absent elector's ballot sixty (60) days before the election, the registrar shall provide applications as soon as practicable after the election is called. The registrar shall fill in the date of the particular election on the application for which the application will be used.
(2) The registrar shall be authorized to disburse applications for absentee ballots to any qualified elector within the county where he or she serves. Any person who presents to the registrar an oral or written request for an absentee ballot application for a voter entitled to vote absentee by mail, other than the elector who seeks to vote by absentee ballot, shall, in the presence of the registrar, sign the application and print on the application his or her name and address and the name of the elector for whom the application is being requested in the place provided for on the application for that purpose. However, if for any reason such person is unable to write the information required, then the registrar shall write the information on a printed form which has been prescribed by the Secretary of State. The form shall provide a place for such person to place his or her mark after the form has been filled out by the registrar.
(3) It shall be unlawful for any person to solicit absentee ballot applications or absentee ballots for persons staying in any skilled nursing facility as defined in Section 41-7-173 unless the person soliciting the absentee ballot applications or absentee ballots is:
(a) A family member of the person staying in the skilled nursing facility; or
(b) A person designated by the person for whom the absentee ballot application or absentee ballot is sought, the registrar or the deputy registrar.
As used in this subsection, "family member" means a spouse, parent, grandparent, sibling, adult child, grandchild or legal guardian.
(4) The registrar in the county wherein a voter is qualified to vote upon receiving by mail the envelope containing the absentee ballots shall keep an accurate list of all persons preparing such ballots. The list shall be kept in a conspicuous place accessible to the public near the entrance to the registrar's office. The registrar shall also furnish to each precinct manager a list of the names of all persons in each respective precinct voting absentee by mail and in person to be posted in a conspicuous place at the polling place for public notice. The application on file with the registrar and the envelopes containing the ballots that voters mailed to the registrar shall be kept by the registrar in his or her office in a secure location. At the time such boxes are delivered to the election commissioners or managers, the registrar shall also turn over a list of all such persons who have voted and whose mailed ballots are in the registrar's office.
(5) The registrar shall also be authorized to mail one (1) application to any qualified elector of the county, who is eligible to vote by absentee ballot, for use in a particular election.
(6) The registrar shall process all applications for absentee ballots by using the Statewide Election Management System. The registrar shall account for all absentee ballots delivered to and received by mail as well as those who voted absentee in person from qualified voters by processing such ballots using the Statewide Election Management System.
SECTION 6. Section 23-15-627, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-627. (1) Any
elector described in Section 23-15-713 may * * * vote
in person at the office of the registrar in the county in which he or she
resides.
(2) The registrar shall be responsible for furnishing an absentee ballot application form to any elector authorized to receive an absentee ballot by mail. Except as otherwise provided in Section 23-15-625, absentee ballot applications shall be furnished to a person only upon the oral or written request of the elector who seeks to vote by absentee ballot; however, the parent, child, spouse, sibling, legal guardian, those empowered with a power of attorney for that elector's affairs or agent of the elector, who is designated in writing and witnessed by a resident of this state who shall write his or her physical address on such designation, may orally request an absentee ballot application on behalf of the elector. The written designation shall be valid for one (1) year after the date of the designation. An absentee ballot application must have the seal of the circuit or municipal clerk affixed to it and be initialed by the registrar or his or her deputy in order to be used to obtain an absentee ballot. A reproduction of an absentee ballot application shall not be valid unless it is a reproduction provided by the office of the registrar of the jurisdiction in which the election is being held and which contains the seal and initials required by this section. Such application shall be substantially in the following form:
"OFFICIAL APPLICATION FOR ABSENT ELECTOR'S BALLOT
I, _____, duly qualified and registered in the ___ Precinct of the County of _____, and State of Mississippi, coming within the purview of the definition 'ABSENT ELECTOR' will be absent from the county of my residence on election day, or unable to vote in person because (check appropriate reason):
( ) (PRESIDENTIAL APPLICANT ONLY:) I am currently a resident of Mississippi or have moved therefrom within thirty (30) days of the coming presidential election.
( ) I am an enlisted or commissioned member, male or female, of any component of the United States Armed Forces and am a citizen of Mississippi, or spouse or dependent of such member.
( ) I am a member of the Merchant Marine or the American Red Cross and am a citizen of Mississippi or spouse or dependent of such member.
( ) I am a disabled war veteran who is a patient in any hospital and am a citizen of Mississippi or spouse or dependent of such veteran.
( ) I am a civilian attached to and serving outside of the United States with any branch of the Armed Forces or with the Merchant Marine or American Red Cross, and am a citizen of Mississippi or spouse or dependent of such civilian.
( ) I am a citizen of Mississippi temporarily residing outside the territorial limits of the United States and the District of Columbia.
( ) I am a student, teacher or administrator at a college, university, junior or community college, high, junior high, elementary or grade school, whose studies or employment at such institution necessitates my absence from the county of my voting residence or spouse or dependent of such student, teacher or administrator who maintains a common domicile outside the county of my voting residence with such student, teacher or administrator.
( ) I will be outside the county on election day.
( ) I have a temporary or permanent physical disability, which may include, but is not limited to, a physician-imposed quarantine due to COVID-19 during the year 2020. Or, I am caring for a dependent that is under a physician-imposed quarantine due to COVID-19 beginning with July 8, 2020, and the same being repealed on December 31, 2020.
( ) I am sixty-five (65) years of age or older.
( ) I am the parent, spouse or dependent of a person with a temporary or permanent physical disability who is hospitalized outside his or her county of residence or more than fifty (50) miles away from his or her residence, and I will be with such person on election day.
( ) I am a member of the congressional delegation, or spouse or dependent of a member of the congressional delegation.
( ) I am required to be at work on election day during the times which the polls will be open.
I hereby make application for an official ballot, or ballots, to be voted by me at the election to be held in _____, on _____.
Mail 'Absent Elector's Ballot' to me at the following address ____________.
( ) I wish to receive an absentee ballot for the runoff election ___________________________________________.
I realize that I can be fined up to Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) and sentenced up to five (5) years in the Penitentiary for making a false statement in this application and for selling my vote and violating the Mississippi Absentee Voter Law. (This sentence is to be in bold print.)
If you are temporarily or permanently disabled, you are not required to have this application notarized or signed by an official authorized to administer oaths for absentee balloting. You are required to sign this application in the proper place and have a person eighteen (18) years of age or older witness your signature and sign this application in the proper place.
DO NOT SIGN WITHOUT READING. (This sentence is to be in bold print.)
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this the ____ day of ______, 2___.
_________________________________
(Signature of absent elector)
SWORN TO AND SUBSCRIBED before me this the ____ day of _____, 2___.
________________________________________
(Official authorized to administer oaths
for absentee balloting.)
TO BE SIGNED BY WITNESS FOR VOTERS TEMPORARILY OR PERMANENTLY DISABLED:
I HEREBY CERTIFY that this application for an absent elector's ballot was signed by the above-named elector in my presence and that I am at least eighteen (18) years of age, this the _____ day of ____________________, 2___.
_________________________________
(Signature of witness)
CERTIFICATE OF DELIVERY
I hereby certify that _________________ (print name of voter) has requested that I, __________________ (print name of person delivering application), deliver to the voter this absentee ballot application.
____________________________________________
(Signature of person delivering application)
____________________________________________
(Address of person delivering application)"
SECTION 7. Section 23-15-631, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-631. (1) The registrar shall enclose with each ballot mailed to an absent elector separate printed instructions furnished by the registrar containing the following:
* * *
( * * *a) Upon receipt of the enclosed
ballot, you will not mark the ballot except in view or sight of the attesting
witness. In the sight or view of the attesting witness, mark the ballot
according to instructions.
( * * *b) After marking the ballot, fill out
and sign the "ELECTOR'S CERTIFICATE" on the back of the envelope so
that the signature is across the flap of the envelope to ensure the integrity
of the ballot. All absent electors shall have the attesting witness sign the
"ATTESTING WITNESS CERTIFICATE" across the flap on the back of the
envelope. Place the necessary postage on the envelope and deposit it in the
post office or some government receptacle provided for deposit of mail so that
the absent elector's ballot will be postmarked on or before the date of the
election and received by the registrar no more than five (5) business days
after the election.
Any notary public, United States postmaster, assistant United States postmaster, United States postal supervisor, clerk in charge of a contract postal station, or other officer having authority to administer an oath or take an acknowledgment may be an attesting witness; provided, however, that in the case of an absent elector who is temporarily or permanently physically disabled, the attesting witness may be any person eighteen (18) years of age or older and such person is not required to have the authority to administer an oath. If a postmaster, assistant postmaster, postal supervisor, or clerk in charge of a contract postal station acts as an attesting witness, his or her signature on the elector's certificate must be authenticated by the cancellation stamp of their respective post offices. If an officer having authority to administer an oath or take an acknowledgement acts as attesting witness, his or her signature on the elector's certificate, together with his or her title and address, but no seal, shall be required. Any affidavits made by an absent elector who is in the Armed Forces may be executed before a commissioned officer, warrant officer, or noncommissioned officer not lower in grade than sergeant rating or any person authorized to administer oaths.
( * * *c) When the application accompanies
the ballot it shall not be returned in the same envelope as the ballot but
shall be returned in a separate preaddressed envelope provided by the
registrar.
( * * *d) A candidate for public office, or
the spouse, parent or child of a candidate for public office, may not be an
attesting witness for any absentee ballot upon which the candidate's name
appears, unless the voter is related within the first degree to the candidate
or the spouse, parent or child of the candidate.
( * * *e) Any voter casting an absentee
ballot who declares that he or she requires assistance to vote by reason of
blindness, temporary or permanent physical disability or inability to read or
write, shall be entitled to receive assistance in the marking of his or her
absentee ballot and in completing the affidavit on the absentee ballot
envelope. The voter may be given assistance by anyone of the voter's choice
other than a candidate whose name appears on the absentee ballot being marked,
the spouse, parent or child of a candidate whose name appears on the absentee
ballot being marked or the voter's employer, an agent of that employer or a
union representative; however, a candidate whose name is on the ballot or the
spouse, parent or child of such candidate may provide assistance upon request
to any voter who is related within the first degree. In order to ensure the
integrity of the ballot, any person who provides assistance to an absentee
voter shall be required to sign and complete the "Certificate of Person
Providing Voter Assistance" on the absentee ballot envelope.
(2) The foregoing instructions required to be provided by the registrar to the elector shall also constitute the substantive law pertaining to the handling of absentee ballots by the elector and registrar.
(3) The Secretary of State shall prepare instructions on how absent voters may comply with the identification requirements of Section 23-15-563.
SECTION 8. Section 23-15-639, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-639. (1) The examination and counting of all absentee ballots shall be conducted as follows:
(a) At the opening of the regular balloting and at the opening of the polls, the resolution board established under Section 23-15-523 and trained in the process of canvassing absentee ballots shall first take the envelopes containing the absentee ballots of such electors from the secure location at the circuit clerk's office, and the name, address and precinct inscribed on each envelope shall be announced by the election managers.
(b) 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 resolution board find that the applicant is a registered and qualified voter or otherwise qualified to vote, the envelope shall then be opened and the ballot removed from the envelope, without its being unfolded, or permitted to be unfolded or examined.
(c) Having observed and found the ballot to be regular as far as can be observed from its official endorsement, the resolution board shall deposit it in the ballot box with the other ballots before counting any ballots and enter the voter's name in the receipt book provided for that purpose. All absentee ballots received, including those cast on a direct recording electronic voting system or those cast on a ballot that is fed through an optical mark reading equipment machine, prior to 7:00 p.m. the day before the election shall be counted in the registrar's office by the resolution board when the polls close and then added to the votes cast in each precinct. All absentee ballots received after 7:00 p.m. the day before the election but not later than the fifth business day after the election shall be processed by the resolution board.
(2) The resolution board shall also take such action as may be prescribed by the Secretary of State to ensure compliance with the identification requirements of Section 23-15-563.
(3) The resolution board shall process the absentee ballots using the procedure provided in subsection (1) of this section.
SECTION 9. Section 23-15-649, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-649. (1) For all elections, the election officials shall prepare and print, 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 to be mailed 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 or with a header of different tint.
(2) For all elections, the election officials shall prepare, as soon as the deadline for the qualification of candidates has passed or forty-five (45) days before the election, whichever is later, either regular paper ballots or official ballots for the direct recording electronic voting system or an official ballot that is fed through an optical mark reading equipment machine as provided in Sections 23-15-503 through 23-15-525 and Sections 23-15-531 through 23-15-531.12.
SECTION 10. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2021.