MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2022 Regular Session
To: Apportionment and Elections
By: Representatives Powell, Boyd
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-165, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THE FEES TO BE CHARGED FOR COPIES OF STATEWIDE, DISTRICT, COUNTY OR MUNICIPAL VOTER REGISTRATION FILES WHEN THOSE FILES ARE REQUESTED BY CANDIDATES FOR ELECTIVE OFFICE, REGISTERED POLITICAL PARTIES AND INDIVIDUALS REQUESTING VOTER REGISTRATION FILES OTHER THAN THEIR OWN; TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE MONIES THAT ARE DEPOSITED INTO THE ELECTIONS SUPPORT FUND; TO REVISE HOW THE MONIES IN THE ELECTIONS SUPPORT FUND ARE DISTRIBUTED AND FOR WHAT PURPOSES THEY ARE SPENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 23-15-165, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-165. (1) The Office of the Secretary of State, in cooperation with the county registrars and election commissioners, shall procure, implement and maintain an electronic information processing system and programs capable of maintaining a centralized database of all registered voters in the state. The system shall encompass software and hardware, at both the state and county level, software development training, conversion and support and maintenance for the system. This system shall be known as the "Statewide Elections Management System" and shall constitute the official record of registered voters in every county of the state.
(2) The Office of the Secretary of State shall develop and implement the Statewide Elections Management System so that the registrar and election commissioners of each county shall:
(a) Verify that an applicant that is registering to vote in that county is not registered to vote in another county;
(b) Be notified automatically that a registered voter in its county has registered to vote in another county;
(c) Receive regular
reports of death, changes of address and convictions for disenfranchising
crimes that apply to voters registered in the county; * * *
(d) Retain all present
functionality related to, but not limited to, the use of voter roll data and to
implement such other functionality as the law requires to enhance the
maintenance of accurate county voter records and related jury selection and
redistricting programs * * *;
and
(e) When evidence exists that a particular registered voter may not be a citizen of the United States as provided in Section 23-15-15, send notification to the registrar of the location where the person is registered to vote.
(3) As a part of the procurement and implementation of the system, the Office of the Secretary of State shall, with the assistance of the advisory committee, procure services necessary to convert current voter registration records in the counties into a standard, industry accepted file format that can be used on the Statewide Elections Management System. Thereafter, all official voter information shall be maintained on the Statewide Elections Management System. The standard industry accepted format of data was reviewed and approved by a majority of the advisory committee created in subsection (5) of this section after consultation with the Circuit Clerks Association and the format may not be changed without consulting the Circuit Clerks Association.
(4) The Secretary of State may, with the assistance of the advisory committee, adopt rules and regulations necessary to administer the Statewide Elections Management System. The rules and regulations shall at least:
(a) Provide for the establishment and maintenance of a centralized database for all voter registration information in the state;
(b) Provide procedures for integrating data into the centralized database;
(c) Provide security to ensure that only the registrar, or his or her designee or other appropriate official, as the law may require, can add information to, delete information from and modify information in the system;
(d) Provide the registrar or his or her designee or other appropriate official, as the law may require, access to the system at all times, including the ability to download copies of the industry standard file, for all purposes related to their official duties, including, but not limited to, exclusive access for the purpose of printing all local pollbooks;
(e) Provide security and protection of all information in the system and monitor the system to ensure that unauthorized access is not allowed;
(f) Provide a procedure that will allow the registrar, or his or her designee or other appropriate official, as the law may require, to identify the precinct to which a voter should be assigned; and
(g) Provide a procedure for phasing in or converting existing manual and computerized voter registration systems in counties to the Statewide Elections Management System.
(5) The Secretary of State established an advisory committee to assist in developing system specifications, procurement, implementation and maintenance of the Statewide Elections Management System. The committee included two (2) representatives from the Circuit Clerks Association, appointed by the association; two (2) representatives from the Election Commissioners Association of Mississippi, appointed by the association; one (1) member of the Mississippi Association of Supervisors, or its staff, appointed by the association; the Director of the Stennis Institute of Government at Mississippi State University, or his or her designee; the Executive Director of the Department of Information Technology Services, or his or her designee; two (2) persons knowledgeable about elections and information technology appointed by the Secretary of State; and the Secretary of State, who shall serve as the chair of the advisory committee.
(6) (a) Social security numbers, telephone numbers and date of birth and age information in statewide, district, county and municipal voter registration files shall be exempt from and shall not be subject to inspection, examination, copying or reproduction under the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983.
(b) Copies of
statewide, district, county or municipal voter registration files, excluding
social security numbers, telephone numbers and date of birth and age
information, shall be provided to any person * * * as
follows:
(i) An individual voter may obtain any voter information contained in that voter's record upon request and free of charge.
(ii) Voter registration files shall be made available to governmental entities for investigative purposes or for the purpose of jury selection upon request and free of charge.
(iii) A candidate for elective office or registered political party may purchase a voter registration file upon request for a fee of Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00).
(iv) Any person who is not a candidate or agent or representative of a registered political party may obtain a voter registration file upon request for a fee of Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00).
(c) Monies collected by the Secretary of State from voter registration file fees pursuant to this subsection (6) shall be deposited into the Elections Support Fund established in Section 23-15-5.
SECTION 2. Section 23-15-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-5. (1) There is created in the State Treasury a special fund to be known as the Elections Support Fund. Monies derived from annual report fees imposed upon limited liability companies under Section 79-29-1203, and voter registration file fees collected by the Secretary of State's office under Section 23-15-165 shall be deposited into the Elections Support Fund. Unexpended amounts remaining in the fund at the end of the fiscal year shall not lapse into the State General Fund, and any interest earned or investment earnings on amounts in the fund shall be disbursed as provided in subsection (2) of this section. The expenditure of monies in the fund shall be under the direction of the Secretary of State as provided by subsection (2) of this section, and such funds shall be paid by the State Treasurer upon warrants issued by the Department of Finance and Administration.
(2) (a) Monies in the fund shall be used as follows:
(i) * * * Seventy percent (70%)
of the monies in the special fund shall be distributed annually to the
counties, upon appropriation of the Legislature, based on the proportion that
the population of a county bears to the total population in all counties of the
state population according to the most recent information from the United
States Census Bureau, and held in a separate fund solely for the purpose of
acquiring, upgrading, maintaining or repairing voting equipment, systems and
supplies, hiring temporary technical support, conducting elections using such
voting equipment or systems, employing such personnel to conduct an election,
and training election officials; and
(ii) The remaining * * * thirty percent (30%)
of the monies in the special fund shall be * * * distributed
annually to the Secretary of State for the purposes of maintaining, upgrading
or equipping the Statewide Elections Management System, improving election
security throughout the state and providing voter education.
(b) The Secretary of State shall create standard training guidelines to assist counties in training election officials with the funds authorized under subsection (2)(a)(ii) of this section. Any criteria established by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this section shall be used in addition to any other training or coursework prescribed by the Secretary of State to train circuit clerks, poll managers and any other election officials participating in county elections.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no monies from the Elections Support Fund shall be used by the Secretary of State or any person associated with the Office of the Secretary of State to provide or otherwise support expert testimony in any manner for any hearing, trial or election contest.
(3) From and after July 1, 2017, none of the monies deposited in the Elections Support Fund may be used to reimburse or otherwise defray any costs that the Office of the Secretary of State may incur in administering the fund.
(4) From and after July 1, 2016, no state agency shall charge another state agency a fee, assessment, rent or other charge for services or resources received by authority of this section.
(5) By July 1, 2022, any monies not transferred into the State General Fund shall be transferred to the fund created in House Bill No. _____, 2022 Regular Session, for the purchase of voting machines.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2022.