MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1999 Regular Session

To: Apportionment and Elections

By: Representative Moak

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-297, 23-15-299 AND 23-15-977, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE FEES REQUIRED TO BE PAID UPON ENTERING CERTAIN RACES FOR PARTY NOMINATION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 23-15-297, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-297. Any candidate * * * entering the race for party nominations for office shall first pay to the proper officer as provided for in Section 23-15-299 for each primary election the following amounts:

(a) Candidates for Governor, the sum of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00).

(b) Candidates for Lieutenant Governor, the sum of One Thousand Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($1,250.00).

(c) Candidates for Attorney General, State Treasurer, Auditor of Public Accounts, Commissioner of Insurance, Secretary of State and Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, the sum of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00).

(d) Candidates for Mississippi Department of Transportation Commissioner and State Public Service Commissioner, the sum of Nine Hundred Dollars ($900.00).

(e) Candidates for State Senator and State Representative, the sum of Three Hundred Fifty Dollars ($350.00).

(f) Candidates for district attorney, the sum of Three Hundred Dollars ($300.00).

(g) Candidates for sheriff, chancery clerk, circuit clerk, tax assessor, county attorney, tax collector, county superintendent of education, county coroner, county surveyor and ranger, the sum of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).

(h) Candidates for justice court judge, constable, board of supervisors and county board of education, the sum of Fifty Dollars ($50.00).

(i) Candidates for United States Senator, the sum of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00).

(j) Candidates for United States Representative, the sum of Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00).

A person shall not be denied candidacy for any of the offices for which fees are assessed under this section because the person is unable to pay the fees required by this section.

SECTION 2. Section 23-15-299, Mississippi Code of 1972, is

amended as follows:

23-15-299. (1) Assessments made pursuant to paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (d) and (f) of Section 23-15-297, and assessments made pursuant to paragraph (e) of Section 23-15-297 for legislative offices for districts composed of more than one (1) county or parts of more than one (1) county, shall be paid by each candidate to the secretary of the state executive committee with which the candidate is affiliated by 5:00 p.m. on March 1 of the year in which the primary election for the office is held or on the date of the qualifying deadline provided by statute for the office, whichever is earlier.

(2) Assessments made pursuant to paragraphs * * * (e), (g) and (h) of Section 23-15-297, other than assessments made for legislative offices for districts containing more than one (1) county or parts of more than one (1) county, shall be paid by each candidate to the circuit clerk of the candidate's county of residence by 5:00 p.m. on March 1 of the year in which the primary election for the office is held or on the date of the qualifying deadline provided by statute for the office, whichever is earlier. The circuit clerk shall forward the fee and all necessary information to the secretary of the proper county executive committee within two (2) business days.

(3) Assessments made pursuant to paragraphs (i) and (j) of Section 23-15-297 must be paid by each candidate to the Secretary of the State Executive Committee with which the candidate is affiliated by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, January 26, 1996, for the presidential preference primary in 1996 and must be paid sixty (60) days before the presidential preference primary in the years after 1996. Assessments made pursuant to paragraphs (i) and (j) of Section 23-15-297, in years when a presidential preference primary is not being held, shall be paid by each candidate to the Secretary of the State Executive Committee with which the candidate is affiliated by 5:00 p.m. on March 1 of the year in which the primary election for the office is held.

(4) The fees paid pursuant to subsections (1), (2) and (3) 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, and the office for which he or she is a candidate.

(5) The secretary or circuit clerk to whom the payments are made shall promptly receipt for same stating the office for which the candidate making payment is running and the political party with which he or she is affiliated, and he or she shall keep an itemized account in detail showing the exact time and date of the receipt of each payment received by him or her and, where applicable, the date of the postmark on the envelope containing the fee and from whom, and for what office the party paying same is a candidate.

(6) The secretaries of the proper executive committee shall hold the funds to be finally disposed of by order of their respective executive committees. The funds may be used or disbursed by the executive committee receiving same to pay all necessary traveling or other necessary expenses of the members of the executive committee incurred in discharging their duties as committeemen, and of their secretary and may pay the secretary a salary as may be reasonable.

(7) Upon receipt of the proper fee and all necessary information, the proper executive committee shall then determine whether or not each candidate is a qualified elector, and whether any candidate has been convicted of any crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, or is a fugitive from justice for this state or any other state, and the charge upon which a candidate has fled has not been dismissed. If the proper executive committee finds that a candidate is not a qualified elector, or that the candidate has been convicted of any crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, and not pardoned nor has served his or her sentence, or is a fugitive from justice as aforesaid, then the name of the candidate shall not be placed upon the ballot.

Where there is but one (1) candidate, the proper executive committee when the time has expired within which the names of candidates shall be furnished shall declare the candidate the nominee.

SECTION 3. Section 23-15-977, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-977. (1) Any candidate for judicial office as defined in Section 23-15-975 of this subarticle shall file his or her intent to be a candidate with the proper officials not later than the first Friday after the first Monday in May before the general election for judicial office and shall pay to the proper officials the following amounts:

(a) Candidates for Supreme Court judge and Court of Appeals, the sum of Nine Hundred Dollars ($900.00).

(b) Candidates for circuit judge and chancellor, the sum of Three Hundred Dollars ($300.00).

(c) Candidates for county judge and family court judge, the sum of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).

(2) Candidates for judicial offices listed in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1) of this section shall file their intent to be a candidate with, and pay the proper assessment made pursuant to subsection (1) of this section to, the State Board of Election Commissioners.

(3) Candidates for judicial offices listed in paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of this section shall file their intent to be a candidate with, and pay the proper assessment made pursuant to subsection (1) of this section to, the circuit clerk of the proper county. The circuit clerk shall notify the county commissioners of election of all persons who have filed their intent to be a candidate filed with, and paid the proper assessment to, the clerk. The notification shall occur within two (2) business days and shall contain all necessary information.

(4) A person shall not be denied candidacy for any of the offices for which fees are assessed under this section because the person is unable to pay the fees required by this section.

SECTION 4. The Attorney General of the State of Mississippi shall submit this act, immediately upon approval by the Governor, or upon approval by the Legislature subsequent to a veto, to the Attorney General of the United States or to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in accordance with the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the date it is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.