MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2000 Regular Session

To: Apportionment and Elections

By: Representative Guice

AN ACT TO CREATE A NEW CODE SECTION WHICH REQUIRES ALL NEWSPAPER ESTABLISHMENTS TO PUBLISH THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF ALL CANDIDATES FOR OFFICE DURING ANY ELECTION UPON PUBLISHING THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF A SINGLE CANDIDATE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. It shall be unlawful for any newspaper to fail to publish the announcement of all candidates for office during any election campaign, upon publishing the announcement of a single candidate. The announcements shall be printed on the same page, in the same position and in the same size type. The amount that may be charged for the announcement shall not exceed the rate charged for similar announcements.

The newspaper owner or the employee responsible for failing to publish the name of every candidate running in an election, upon publishing the announcement of a single candidate, shall be subject to liability. Any person convicted of a violation of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and may be punished by a fine of not less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) and not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00), or by imprisonment for not more than six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

SECTION 2. Section 1 of this act shall be codified as a separate section of Article 27, Chapter 15, Title 23, Mississippi Code of 1972.

SECTION 3. 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 4. 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.