MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2000 Regular Session

To: Education; Apportionment and Elections

By: Representative Holland

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 37-7-211, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE CANDIDATES FOR THE OFFICE OF TRUSTEE OF A MUNICIPAL SEPARATE SCHOOL DISTRICT OR A SPECIAL MUNICIPAL SEPARATE SCHOOL DISTRICT TO FILE THEIR PETITIONS WITH THE MUNICIPAL CLERK OR CIRCUIT CLERK; TO AMEND SECTION 37-7-215, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO EXPAND THE HOURS THAT THE POLLS MUST BE OPEN IN SUCH ELECTIONS; TO AMEND SECTION 37-7-217, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE ELECTION MANAGERS AND CLERKS TO ASSIST IN SUCH ELECTIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 37-7-211, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-7-211. Any person otherwise eligible under the provisions of subsection (1) of Section 37-7-203 who * * * desires to be a candidate for the office of trustee must qualify in the following manner in order to be allowed to be considered for election. At least forty (40) days before the election he shall file with the clerk of the municipality in which the municipal separate school district or the special municipal separate school district, as the case may be, is situated a petition signed by not less than twenty-five (25) qualified electors of the area represented by the office which he seeks, either for a full term or an unexpired term, as the case may be, and an affidavit by the candidate offering for election stating his qualifications; however, if the person is a resident of the added territory outside the corporate limits of the municipality, he shall file the requisite petition and affidavit with the circuit clerk of the county. The petition shall contain an affidavit certifying that all signatures are the personal signatures of each person whose name appears on the petition and that each person is a qualified elector. If the municipal clerk or circuit clerk, as the case may be, determines that the person desiring to be a candidate meets all qualifications for holding the office of trustee, then no less than thirty (30) days before the election, the municipal clerk or circuit clerk shall present the name of a the person as a qualified candidate to the superintendent of the school district.

Unless the petition and affidavit required in this section are filed not less than forty (40) days prior to the election, the name of the candidate shall not be considered in the election, and votes cast for any person who has failed to qualify shall not be counted in the election.

If, after the time for candidates to file the petition and affidavit provided for in this section, there is only one (1) person to qualify for the office of trustee, then no election or notice of election shall be necessary, and such person * * *, if otherwise qualified, shall be declared elected without opposition.

SECTION 2. Section 37-7-215, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-7-215. (1) The following election procedure shall be used in each school district in which there are less than three thousand five hundred (3,500) qualified electors:

All such elections shall be held on the first Saturday of March of each year, and in such election the polls shall be opened at 2 p.m. and closed at 6 p.m. for the first ballot. In the event a runoff is necessary, such runoff shall be held two (2) weeks after the first Saturday of March. All such elections shall be held at the schoolhouse of such school district; if there is in such school district an elementary school building and a high school building at different locations, then the election shall be held at the high school building. In the event there are located in such district separate buildings at which such election may be held under the provisions of this section, then the board of trustees of such school district * * *, by an order spread upon its minutes, shall designate the school building at which such election shall be held, which * * * order shall be adopted not less than thirty (30) days prior to such election.

(2) The following election procedure shall be used in each school district in which there are three thousand five hundred (3,500) qualified electors or more:

All such elections shall be held on the first Saturday of March of each year, at such time and place as determined by the board of trustees, and in such elections the polls shall be opened for not less than three (3) hours for the first ballot. In the event a runoff is necessary, such runoff shall be held two (2) weeks after the first Saturday of March. All such elections shall be held at a convenient place. The board of trustees of such school district * * *, by an order spread upon its minutes, shall designate the time and place or places at which such election shall be held, which order shall be adopted not less than thirty (30) days prior to such election.

SECTION 3. Section 37-7-217, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

37-7-217. The qualified electors of each school district operating under Section 37-7-215(1) shall meet at 1:30 p.m. on the date and at the place specified in that section, and the qualified electors of each school district operating under Section 37-7-215(2) shall meet on the date specified in that section and at the time and place or places specified by the board of trustees of the school district. * * * At such meeting, the electors shall * * * organize immediately by electing a chairman and a secretary of the meeting and then shall * * * proceed to elect the necessary number of trustees by secret written ballot from the list of candidates properly qualified. If there is an election for a full term and for an unexpired term or terms, such election shall be separately held and conducted. The person elected immediately shall * * * assume the duties of his office for the full term if the election is for the full term, or for the remainder of the unexpired term if the election is for an unexpired term. The chairman and secretary of the meeting shall * * * certify the results of the election to the superintendent of the municipal separate or special municipal separate school district, as the case may be, which * * * certificate shall be delivered to such superintendent within five (5) days following the election. If a person does not receive a majority of the votes cast upon the first ballot, a runoff shall be held between the two (2) persons receiving the highest number of votes upon such first ballot. The runoff shall be held two (2) weeks after the date of the initial election. A trustees' election shall not be discontinued or adjourned but * * * shall be completed upon the day specified for the election.

The superintendent of the school district may employ election managers and clerks to assist in the election of trustees. Upon the request of the superintendent, the commissioners of election in the county in which the school district is situated shall provide to the superintendent a list of those managers and clerks who are eligible to assist with the election. The school district shall compensate such election managers and clerks at the same rate the county is required by law to pay for such services.

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.