House Bill 966

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-171, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT NO MUNICIPAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER OR PRIMARY ELECTION OFFICIAL APPOINTED BY THE MUNICIPAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MAY CAMPAIGN FOR A CANDIDATE WHOSE NAME IS LISTED ON THE MUNICIPAL PRIMARY ELECTION BALLOT; TO PROVIDE THAT ANY PERSON WHO IS A MUNICIPAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER AND IS CONVICTED OF CAMPAIGNING FOR A CANDIDATE ON THE MUNICIPAL PRIMARY ELECTION BALLOT SHALL BE GUILTY OF A MISDEMEANOR AND REMOVED FROM HIS OR HER PRIMARY ELECTION POSITION; TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-313 AND 25-1-115, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE PRECEDING SECTION; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 23-15-309, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR THE PURPOSE OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 23-15-171, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-171. (1) Municipal primary elections shall be held on the first Tuesday in April preceding the general municipal election and, in the event a second primary shall be necessary, such second primary shall be held on the fourth Tuesday in April preceding such general municipal election. The candidate receiving a majority of the votes cast in the election shall be the party nominee. If no candidate shall receive a majority vote at the election, the two (2) candidates receiving the highest number of votes shall have their names placed on the ballot for the second primary election. The candidate receiving the most votes cast in the second primary election shall be the party nominee. However, if no candidate shall receive a majority vote at the first primary, and there is a tie in the election of those receiving the next highest vote, those candidates receiving the next highest vote and the candidate receiving the highest vote shall have their names placed on the ballot for the second primary election, and whoever receives the most votes cast in the second primary election shall be the party nominee.

(2) * * * (a) Each municipal executive committee shall have as many members as there are elective officers of the municipality, and the members of the municipal executive committee of each political party shall be elected in the primary elections held for the nomination of candidates for municipal offices. The provisions of this section shall govern all municipal primary elections as far as applicable, but the officers to prepare the ballots and the poll managers and other officials of the primary election shall be appointed by the municipal executive committee of the party holding the primary, and the returns of such election shall be made to such municipal executive committee. Vacancies in the executive committee shall be filled by it.

(b) No municipal executive committee member or primary election official appointed by the municipal executive committee may campaign for, engage in fundraising for, make any contribution to, endorse, or in any other way support a candidate whose name is listed on the municipal primary election ballot. Any person who violates this paragraph shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished as provided in Section 99-19-31 and removed from his or her primary election position.

( * * *23) Provided, however, that in municipalities operating under a special or private charter which fixes a time for holding elections, other than the time fixed by Chapter 491, Laws of 1950, the first primary election shall be held on the first Tuesday, two (2) months before the time for holding the general election, as fixed by the charter, and the second primary election, where necessary, shall be held three (3) weeks after the first primary election, unless the charter of any such municipality provides otherwise, in which event the provisions of the special or private charter shall prevail as to the time of holding such primary elections.

( * * *34) At the primary election the municipal executive committee shall perform the same duties as are specified by law and performed by members of the county executive committee with regard to state and county primary elections. All primary elections in municipalities shall be held and conducted in the same manner as is provided by law for state and county primary elections.

SECTION 2. Section 23-15-313, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-313. (1) If there be any political party, or parties, in any municipality which shall not have a party executive committee for such municipality, such political party, or parties, shall within thirty (30) days of the date for which a candidate for a municipal office is required to qualify in that municipality select qualified electors of that municipality and of that party's political faith to serve on a temporary municipal executive committee until members of a municipal executive committee are elected at the next regular election for executive committees. The temporary municipal executive committee shall be selected in the following manner: The chairman of the county executive committee of the party desiring to select a temporary municipal executive committee shall call, upon petition of five (5) or more members of that political faith, a mass meeting of the qualified electors of their political faith who reside in such municipality to meet at some convenient place within such municipality, at a time to be designated in the call, and at such mass convention the members of that political faith shall select a temporary municipal executive committee which shall serve until members of a municipal executive committee are elected at the next regular election for executive committees. The public shall be given notice of such mass meeting as provided in Section 23-15-315. The chairman of the county executive committee shall authorize the call within five (5) calendar days of receipt of the petition. If the chairman of the county executive committee is either incapacitated, unavailable or nonresponsive and does not authorize the mass call within five (5) calendar days of receipt of the petition, any elected officer of the county executive committee may authorize the call within five (5) calendar days. If no elected officer of the county executive committee acts to approve such petition after an additional five (5) calendar days from the date, the chair of the county executive committee not taking action as provided by this section, the petitioners shall be authorized to produce the call themselves.

(2) If no municipal executive committee is selected or otherwise formed before an election, the county executive committee may serve as the temporary municipal executive committee and exercise all of the duties of the municipal executive committee for the municipal election. After a county executive committee has fulfilled its duties as the temporary municipal executive committee, as soon as practicable thereafter, the county executive committee shall select a municipal executive committee no later than before the next municipal election.

(3) A person who has been convicted of a felony in a court of this state or any other state or a court of the United States, shall be barred from serving as a member of a municipal executive committee.

(4) No temporary municipal executive committee member may campaign for, engage in fundraising for, make any contribution to, endorse, or in any other way support a candidate whose name is listed on the municipal primary election ballot. Any person who violates this subsection shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished as provided in Section 99-19-31 and removed from his or her primary election position.

SECTION 3. Section 25-1-115, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

25-1-115. (1) No person shall serve on any temporary municipal executive committee, municipal executive committee, temporary county executive committee, county executive committee or state executive committee if the person has been convicted of any criminal violation of the Mississippi Election Code, has been convicted of an election crime in this state or any other state, has been convicted of any felony in this state or any other state, has been convicted of an election crime under federal law, has been removed from public office pursuant to Section 25-5-1, or who has resigned from office as part of a plea agreement.

(2) No municipal executive committee member or primary election official appointed by the municipal executive committee shall campaign for, engage in fundraising for, make any contribution to, endorse, or in any other way support a candidate whose name is listed on the municipal primary election ballot.

( * * *23) Any person who violates this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished as provided in Section 99-19-31 and removed from the committee.

SECTION 4. Section 23-15-309, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward 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 (60) days before the first primary election, no later than 5:00 p.m. on such deadline day. If the sixtieth day to file the fee and written statement before an election falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, the fees and written statements submitted on the business day immediately following the Sunday or legal holiday shall be accepted.

(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 or she is affiliated, the email address of the candidate, if any, and the office for which he or she 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 or her, 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. No candidate may attempt to qualify with any political party that does not have a duly organized municipal executive committee, and the municipal clerk shall not accept any assessments made pursuant to subsection (1) if the municipal clerk does not have contact information for the secretary of the municipal executive committee for that political party. The clerk shall promptly supply all necessary information and pay over all fees so received to the secretary of the proper municipal executive committee. The 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, at the time of the qualifying deadline, whether each candidate is a qualified elector of the municipality, and of the ward if the office sought is a ward office, shall determine whether each candidate either meets all other qualifications to hold the office he or she is seeking or presents absolute proof that he or she will, subject to no contingencies, meet all qualifications on or before the date of the general or special election at which he or she could be elected to office. The executive committee shall determine whether the candidate has taken the steps necessary to qualify for more than one (1) office at the election. The committee also shall determine whether any candidate has been convicted of any felony in a court of this state, or has been convicted on or after December 8, 1992, of any offense in another state which is a felony under the laws of this state, or has been convicted of any felony in a federal court on or after December 8, 1992. Excepted from the above are convictions of manslaughter and violations of the United States Internal Revenue Code or any violations of the tax laws of this state unless such offense also involved misuse or abuse of his or her office or money coming into his or her hands by virtue of the office. If the proper municipal executive committee finds that a candidate either (a) does not meet all qualifications to hold the office he or she seeks and fails to provide absolute proof, subject to no contingencies, that he or she will meet the qualifications on or before the date of the general or special election at which he or she could be elected, or (b) has been convicted of a felony as described in this subsection and not pardoned, then the executive committee shall notify the candidate and give the candidate an opportunity to be heard. The executive committee shall mail notice to the candidate at least three (3) business days before the hearing to the address provided by the candidate on the qualifying forms, and the committee shall attempt to contact the candidate by telephone, email and facsimile if the candidate provided this information on the forms. If the candidate fails to appear at the hearing or to prove he or she meets all qualifications to hold the office subject to no contingencies, then the name of such candidate shall not be placed upon the ballot. If the executive committee determines that the candidate has taken the steps necessary to qualify for more than one (1) office at the election, the action required by Section 23-15-905, shall be taken.

(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 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024.