MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2000 Regular Session

To: Apportionment and Elections

By: Representative Reynolds

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-573, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE FOR THE CREATION OF A UNIFORM AFFIDAVIT BALLOT; 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. Any person whose name does not appear upon the pollbooks shall be permitted to vote in an election; but if any person offering to vote in any election whose name does not appear upon the pollbook shall make affidavit before one (1) of the managers of election in writing that he is entitled to vote, or that he has been illegally denied registration, his vote may be prepared by him and handed to the proper election officer who shall enclose the same in an envelope with the written affidavit of the voter, * * * seal the envelope and mark plainly upon it the name of the person offering to vote. The affidavit must include the complete name, all required addresses and telephone numbers, and the signature of the affiant, and must include the signature of one (1) of the election managers. A separate register shall be maintained for affidavit ballots, and the affiant shall sign the register upon completing an affidavit under this section. In canvassing the returns of the election, the executive committee in primary elections, or the election commissioners, in a general election, * * * shall examine the records and allow the ballot to be counted, or not counted, as it appears to be legal.

The uniform affidavit ballot shall be in substantially the following form:

STATE OF MISSISSIPPI ___ Primary ____ General

COUNTY OF ______ ___ Special Elections ___________, 20____

Date

Please give the following information: Date of Birth _____Age___

Social Security Number___________________________________________

Former Address __________________________Date of Move____________

This day personally appeared before the undersigned manager of the above election, __________________________ , who makes

Name

o I. FOR VOTERS WHO ARE REGISTERED IN THIS PRECINCT WHO HAVE NOT MOVED

I am entitled to vote because I am a resident of and lawfully registered in this precinct but my name is not on the pollbook.

I am entitled to vote because I have been lawfully registered in County and the supervisors district wherein this precinct is located for at least thirty (30) days prior to this date, and am not disqualified as a voter of this precinct. I currently reside in this precinct at

I am entitled to vote because I have been lawfully registered in__________________ County and a resident of the supervisors district wherein this precinct is located for at least thirty (30) days prior to this date, and am not disqualified as a voter of said precinct. I currently reside in this precinct at ______________________________________________________________ .

_____________________________ _______________________________

Signature of Voter Signature of Manager

SECTION 2. If the enactment of any state or federal law shall require any modification to the form or language of the affidavit prescribed in this section, then the Secretary of State shall be authorized to promulgate an amended form of the affidavit to comply with the requirements of any such state or federal law, which shall be required to be used in all elections throughout this state.

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.