MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2003 Regular Session
To: Apportionment and Elections
By: Representative Robinson (84th)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-751, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ENHANCE PENALTIES APPLICABLE TO ABSENTEE BALLOT VIOLATIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 23-15-751, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-751. If any registrar or commissioner of elections shall refuse or neglect to perform any of the duties prescribed by Sections 23-15-621 through 23-15-735, or shall knowingly permit any person to sign a false affidavit or otherwise knowingly permit any person to violate Sections 23-15-621 through 23-15-735, or shall violate any of the provisions thereof, or if any officer taking the affidavits as provided in said acts shall make any false statement in his certificate thereto attached, he shall, upon conviction, be deemed guilty of a felony and shall be punished by a fine not exceeding Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000.00) or by imprisonment in the Penitentiary not exceeding two (2) years, and shall be removed from office.
SECTION 2. 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 3. 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.