MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2024 Regular Session
To: Apportionment and Elections
By: Representatives James-Jones, Johnson, Paden, Summers, Nelson, Bell (65th), Clark, Holloway (27th), Scott
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-573, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT IF A VOTER WAS NOT A REGISTERED VOTER IN THE JURISDICTION IN WHICH HE OR SHE TRIED TO VOTE BUT WAS OTHERWISE ELIGIBLE TO VOTE IN THE ELECTION AND IN THE JURISDICTION WHERE HE OR SHE TRIED TO VOTE, THE VOTER'S AFFIDAVIT BALLOT SHALL BE USED AS HIS OR HER REGISTRATION TO VOTE; TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-13, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT THE CASTING OF A VALID AFFIDAVIT BALLOT MAY SERVE AS A WRITTEN REQUEST TO TRANSFER VOTING PRECINCTS OR WARDS; TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-152, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT IF A VOTER WHO WAS MAILED A CONFIRMATION NOTICE AND PLACED ON INACTIVE STATUS IN THE STATEWIDE ELECTIONS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM CASTS AN AFFIDAVIT BALLOT, HE OR SHE SHALL BE RETURNED TO ACTIVE STATUS IN THE STATEWIDE ELECTIONS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 23-15-573, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-573. (1) If any person declares that he or she is a registered voter in the jurisdiction in which he or she offers to vote and that he or she is eligible to vote in the election, but his or her name does not appear upon the pollbooks, or that he or she is not able to cast a regular election day ballot under a provision of state or federal law but is otherwise qualified to vote, or that he or she has been illegally denied registration, or that he or she is unable to present an acceptable form of photo identification:
(a) A poll manager shall notify the person that he or she may cast an affidavit ballot at the election.
(b) The person shall be permitted to cast an affidavit ballot at the polling place upon execution of a written affidavit before one (1) of the poll managers stating that the individual:
(i) Believes he or she is a registered voter in the jurisdiction in which he or she desires to vote and is eligible to vote in the election; or
(ii) Is not able to cast a regular election day ballot under a provision of state or federal law but is otherwise qualified to vote; or
(iii) Believes that he or she has been illegally denied registration; or
(iv) Is unable to present an acceptable form of photo identification.
(c) The poll manager shall allow the individual to mark a paper ballot properly endorsed by the initialing poll manager or alternate initialing poll manager in accordance with Section 23-15-541, which shall be delivered by him or her to the proper election official who shall enclose it in an affidavit ballot envelope, with the written and signed affidavit of the voter affixed to the envelope, seal the envelope and mark plainly upon it the name of the person offering to vote.
(2) The affidavit ballot envelope shall include:
(a) The complete name of the voter;
(b) A present and previous physical and mailing address of the voter;
(c) Telephone numbers where the voter may be contacted;
(d) A statement that the affiant believes he or she is registered to vote in the jurisdiction in which he or she offers to vote;
(e) The signature of the affiant; and
(f) The signature of the poll manager at the polling place at which the affiant offers to vote.
(3) (a) A separate receipt book shall be maintained for affidavit voters and the affidavit voters shall sign the receipt book upon completing the affidavit ballot.
(b) If the affidavit voter is casting an affidavit ballot because the voter is unable to present an acceptable form of photo identification and the voter's name appears in the pollbook, then the poll manager shall write "NO ID" across from the voter's name and in the appropriate column in the pollbook.
(c) In canvassing the returns of the election, the executive committee in primary elections, or the election commissioners in other elections, shall examine the records and allow the ballot to be counted, or not counted as it appears legal.
(d) An affidavit ballot of a voter who was unable to present an acceptable form of photo identification shall not be rejected for this reason if the voter does either of the following:
(i) Returns to the circuit clerk's office, or to the municipal clerk's office for municipal elections, within five (5) business days after the date of the election and presents an acceptable form of photo identification;
(ii) Returns to the circuit clerk's office within five (5) business days after the date of the election to obtain the Mississippi Voter Identification Card, or in municipal election, returns to the municipal clerk's office within five (5) business days after the date of the election to present his or her Mississippi Voter Identification Card or Temporary Mississippi Voter Identification Card; or
(iii) Returns to the circuit clerk's office, or to the municipal clerk's office for municipal elections, within five (5) business days after the date of the election to execute a separate Affidavit of Religious Objection.
(e) An affidavit ballot of a voter who believes he or she is a registered voter in the jurisdiction in which he or she desires to vote and is eligible to vote in the election or believes that he or she has been illegally denied registration shall not be rejected if the voter was a registered voter in the jurisdiction in which he or she voted and is eligible to vote in the election of if the voter was illegally denied registration. If a voter was not a registered voter in the jurisdiction in which he or she tried to vote but was otherwise eligible to vote in the election and in the jurisdiction where he or she tried to vote, the voter's affidavit ballot shall be used as his or her registration to vote, and his or her name shall be placed into the Statewide Elections Management System as if the voter had completed a voter registration application as provided in Section 23-15-31 through 23-15-49. If the voter was illegally denied registration, his or her affidavit ballot shall be counted in the election, and he or she shall be added to the Statewide Elections Management System.
(4) When a person is offered the opportunity to vote by affidavit ballot, he or she shall be provided with written information that informs the person how to ascertain whether his or her affidavit ballot was counted and, if the vote was not counted, the reasons the vote was not counted.
(5) The officials in charge of the election shall process all affidavit ballots by using the Statewide Elections Management System. The officials in charge of the election shall account for all affidavit ballots cast in each election, categorizing the affidavit ballots cast by reason and recording the total number of affidavit ballots counted and not counted in each such category in the Statewide Elections Management System.
(6) The Secretary of State shall, by rule duly adopted, establish a uniform affidavit ballot envelope that shall be used in all elections in this state. The Secretary of State shall print and distribute a sufficient number of affidavit ballot envelopes to the registrar of each county for use in elections. The registrar shall distribute the affidavit ballot envelopes to municipal and county executive committees for use in primary elections and to municipal and county election commissioners for use in all other elections.
(7) County registrars and municipal registrars shall maintain a secure free access system that complies with the Help America Vote Act of 2002, by which persons who vote by affidavit ballot may determine if their ballots were counted, and if not, the reasons the ballot was not counted.
(8) Any person who votes in any election as a result of a federal or state court order or other order extending the time established by law for closing the polls on an election day, may only vote by affidavit ballot. Any affidavit ballot cast under this subsection shall be separated and kept apart from other affidavit ballots cast by voters not affected by the order.
SECTION 2. Section 23-15-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-13. (1) An elector
who moves from one (1) ward or voting precinct to another ward within the same
municipality or voting precinct within the same county shall not be
disqualified to vote, but he or she shall be entitled to have his or her
registration transferred to his or her new ward or voting precinct * * * if one of the following occurs:
(a) the elector makes a written request therefor at any time up to thirty
(30) days before the election at which he or she offers to vote, and if the
removal occurs within thirty (30) days of such election he or she shall be entitled
to vote in his or her new ward or voting precinct by affidavit ballot as
provided in Section 23-15-573; or (b) the elector votes by affidavit ballot
on the day of the election, without having a written request as provided in
subsection (a) of this section. If the affidavit ballot cast on election day without
a previous written request is valid, the affidavit ballot shall be deemed to be
a written request to transfer his or her registration to his new ward or
precinct, and the circuit clerk shall within thirty (30) days after the
election transfer his or her registration to his or her new ward or precinct.
Such affidavit ballot, if valid, shall also be counted in the election in which
it was cast; however, before counting the ballot in the new precinct, the election
commission, or county executive committee in a primary election, shall verify
that the elector did not cast a ballot in his or her former precinct. If
the thirtieth day to transfer the elector's registration before an election
falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, the transfer of the elector's registration
submitted on the business day immediately following the Sunday or legal holiday
shall be accepted and entered into the Statewide Elections Management System
for the purpose of enabling voters to vote in the next election.
(2) If an elector requests a change in his or her address under Section 23-15-49 and the address is located in a precinct in the county or municipality that differs from the precinct as reflected in the then current registration records, the request shall be treated in the same manner as a written request to transfer the elector's registration under subsection (1) of this section.
SECTION 3. Section 23-15-152, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-152. (1) For the purposes of this section, "confirmation notice" means a notice sent by the election commissioners, by forwardable mail, with return postage prepaid, on a form prescribed by the Secretary of State, to a registered voter to confirm the registered voter's current address. The notice shall comply with all applicable requirements of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.
(2) The election commissioners shall send a confirmation notice to the following:
(a) A registered voter if it appears from the United States Postal Service change-of-address information that the registered voter has moved to a different residence;
(b) A registered voter if a county election commissioner or county registrar has received notice from another state, or political subdivision of another state, that the registered voter has registered to vote in another state;
(c) A registered voter who has failed to vote at least once in any election or update his or her registration during a period that begins in the year of a presidential preference primary and extends until the next general election for President of the United States that does not occur in the same year as the beginning of the period; or
(d) A registered voter if the registrar or election commissioners have received reliable information that he or she has moved within or outside of the state. Reliable information includes, but is not limited to: official mail returned as undeliverable by the county election commission, registrar or other county or municipal office, Secretary of State; application for homestead exemption filed by the voter at an address other than the address of current registration; or any information from another state or county entity indicating the voter no longer resides at the address of voter registration.
No registered voter shall be sent a confirmation notice under paragraph (c) of this subsection if he or she has been sent a confirmation notice for those same reasons within the last six (6) years.
(3) The county election commissioners shall place any registered voter who has been sent a confirmation notice on inactive status in the Statewide Elections Management System. Any registered voter who is placed on inactive status shall be unable to cast a regular ballot on election day but shall be able to cast an affidavit ballot as provided in Section 23-15-573. Any registered voter who casts an affidavit ballot shall be returned to active status in the Statewide Elections Management System.
(4) A registered voter "fails to respond to the confirmation notice" if the voter, during a period beginning on the date the confirmation notice was sent and ending on the day after the date of the second general election for federal office that occurs after the date of the notice, fails to:
(a) Respond to the confirmation notice; or
(b) Update the elector's registration information.
A registered voter who votes at least once in any election in the registered voter's county or municipality of registration during the period beginning from the date of the delivery of the confirmation notice provided in this subsection (4) or who is active or reserve military or who serves on jury duty or responds to a summons for jury duty shall not be purged from the Statewide Elections Management System.
(5) The county registrar or county election commission shall move those registered voters who fail to respond to the confirmation notice as provided in subsection (4) of this section and who fail to vote as provided in subsection (4) of this section to purged status in the Statewide Elections Management System.
(6) No systematic list maintenance shall occur during the ninety (90) days immediately preceding a federal primary or general election which is limited to moving a voter to inactive status in subsection (2) of this section or purged status in subsection (5) of this section.
(7) The county registrar shall retain purged voter registration records after they are purged for a period that includes at least two (2) federal general elections and shall record the reason for the removal.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024.