House Bill 1482

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-923, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE STATE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE TO REQUEST A RECOUNTING OF BALLOTS WHEN A PERSON CONTESTS THE ELECTION OF ANOTHER AS THE PARTY NOMINEE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 23-15-923, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-923. Except as otherwise provided in Section 23-15-961, a person desiring to contest the election of another returned as the nominee in state, congressional and judicial districts, and in legislative districts composed of more than one (1) county or parts of more than one (1) county, may do so upon complaint filed with the Chairman of the State Executive Committee, by petition, reciting the grounds upon which the election is contested. If necessary and with the advice of four (4) members of said committee, the chairman shall issue his fiat to the chairman of the appropriate county executive committee, and in like manner as in the county office, the county committee shall investigate the complaint and return their findings to the chairman of the state committee. The State Executive Committee by majority vote of members present may declare the true results of the primary or order such remedy deemed necessary to arrive at the true will of the voters, including the ordering of a partial or complete revote of the election.

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.