MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2001 Regular Session

To: Apportionment and Elections

By: Representative Stringer

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-193 AND 23-15-605, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT THE PERSONS RECEIVING THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF VOTES FOR OFFICES IN THE GENERAL STATE ELECTION SHALL BE ELECTED; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 23-15-193, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-193. At the election in 1995, and every four (4) years thereafter, there shall be elected a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor of Public Accounts, State Treasurer, Attorney General, three (3) public service commissioners, three (3) Mississippi Transportation Commissioners, Commissioner of Insurance, Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, Senators and members of the House of Representatives in the Legislature, district attorneys for the several districts, clerks of the circuit and chancery courts of the several counties, as well as sheriffs, coroners, assessors, surveyors and members of the boards of supervisors, justice court judges and constables, and all other officers to be elected by the people at the general state election. All such officers shall hold their offices for a term of four (4) years, and until their successors are elected and qualified. The state officers shall be elected in the manner prescribed in Section 23-15-605.

SECTION 2. Section 23-15-605, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-605. The Secretary of State, immediately after receiving the returns of an election, not longer than thirty (30) days after the election, shall sum up the whole number of votes given for each candidate * * *, ascertain the person or persons having the largest number of votes for each office, and declare such person or persons to be duly elected; and thereupon all persons chosen to any office at the election shall be commissioned by the Governor; but if it appears that two (2) or more candidates for any district office where the district is composed of two (2) or more counties, standing highest on the list, and not elected, have an equal number of votes, the election shall be forthwith decided between the candidates having an equal number of votes by lot, fairly and publicly drawn, under the direction of the Governor and Secretary of 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 that House Concurrent Resolution No. ______, 2001 Regular Session, is ratified by the electorate, provided that this act is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.