SB2654_S_Amend

SECTION 1. 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 request an absentee ballot application and vote in person at the office of the registrar in the county in which he or she resides. The registrar shall be responsible for furnishing an absentee ballot application form to any elector authorized to receive an absentee ballot. * * * 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.

(2) Such application shall be substantially in the following form for applications mailed to absentee electors:

"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.

( ) 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 when the polls will be open or I am required to be on-call on election day during the times when the polls will be open.

( ) I am incarcerated in prison or jail in the county where I am registered to vote and have not been convicted of a disenfranchising crime.

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 ___________________________________________.

Notify me of a problem with my 'Absent Elector's Ballot' at the following:

Phone number: _____________________________

Email address: ____________________________

Mailing address: __________________________

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)"

(3) The application printed * * * for absentee voters appearing before the registrar shall be substantially in the following form:

"OFFICIAL APPLICATION FOR ABSENT ELECTOR'S BALLOT

( ) (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 citizen of Mississippi temporarily residing outside the territorial limits of the United States and the District of Columbia.

( ) I will be outside the county on election day.

( ) I have a temporary or permanent physical disability.

( ) I am sixty-five (65) years of age or older.

( ) 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 when the polls will be open or I am required to be on-call on election day during the times when the polls will be open.

( ) I am incarcerated in prison or jail in the county where I am registered to vote and have not been convicted of a disenfranchising crime.

I hereby make application for an official ballot, or ballots, to be voted by me at the election to be held in _____, on _____.

Notify me of a problem with my 'Absent Elector's Ballot' at the following:

Phone number: _____________________________

Email address: ____________________________

Mailing address: __________________________

SECTION 2. Section 23-15-633, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-633. * * * ~~(1)~~ On any * * * ~~envelope~~ document where the elector's signature and the signature of the attesting witness are required, the signature lines and the signatures shall be in the boxes across the flap of the envelope to ensure the integrity of the ballot and the following shall be printed on the * * * ~~flap on the back of the envelope~~ document in bold print and in a distinguishing color: "YOUR VOTE WILL BE REJECTED AND NOT COUNTED IF THIS * * * ~~ENVELOPE~~ DOCUMENT IS NOT SIGNED BY YOU AND AN ATTESTING WITNESS IN THE BOXES * * * ~~ACROSS THE FLAP OF THIS ENVELOPE~~ DESIGNATED WITHIN THE DOCUMENT."

A portion of the elector's signature extending outside of the box shall not be grounds for rejecting that elector's ballot.

* * *

SECTION 3. 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, or common carrier, such as United Parcel Service or FedEx Corporation, 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 shall be cast with an absentee paper ballot and deposited into a sealed ballot box by the voter in accordance with Section 1 of this act, 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 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 or in person with a regular paper ballot, 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 4. 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 * * * count the in-person absentee ballots in accordance with Section 1 of this act.

(b) * * * ~~(i)~~ For absentee ballots that were received by mail, the signature on the application shall then be compared with the signature in the box on the back of the envelope. A portion of the elector's signature extending outside of the box shall not be grounds for rejecting that elector's ballot. If it corresponds and the affidavit, if one is required, is sufficient and the resolution board finds 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 mail-in ballots 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 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 5. Section 23-15-659, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-659. For the purpose of this article, for all absentee ballots that are cast in person at the office of the registrar, the absentee ballot application and the required elector certificates shall be printed on * * * ~~the same~~ an absentee ballot * * * form. * * * Once a voter has completed the application, he or she shall proceed to cast his or her absentee ballot and then place the ballot in the * * * ~~absentee ballot envelope~~ ballot box as otherwise provided by law. After the ballot is * * * ~~sealed in the envelope~~ cast, the elector shall complete the elector's certificate. A signature mismatch shall not be grounds for rejecting an absentee ballot that was cast in person in the registrar's office.

SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2025.