MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2011 Regular Session
To: Apportionment and Elections
By: Representative Denny
AN ACT TO REQUIRE ELECTORS TO PRESENT CURRENT, VALID GOVERNMENT-ISSUED PHOTO IDENTIFICATION FOR WHICH PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP IS REQUIRED BEFORE VOTING IN PERSON OR BY ABSENTEE BALLOT; TO PROVIDE THAT ANY ELECTOR WITHOUT VALID IDENTIFICATION MAY CAST AN AFFIDAVIT BALLOT AND PROVIDE IDENTIFICATION NO LATER THAN 48 HOURS AFTER CASTING SUCH BALLOT; TO PROVIDE FOR VOTER REGISTRATION CARDS; TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-631, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE AN ELECTOR TO ENCLOSE CURRENT, VALID IDENTIFICATION FOR WHICH PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP IS REQUIRED WITH THE ABSENTEE BALLOT BEFORE SEALING THE ABSENTEE BALLOT ENVELOPE; TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-11, 23-15-541, 23-15-639, 23-15-641, 23-15-719 AND 23-15-721, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE PRECEDING SECTIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. (1) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, each elector shall present current, valid government-issued photo identification for which proof of citizenship is required to an election manager, or the circuit clerk or deputy circuit clerk in the case of absentee voting at any polling place and prior to such person's admission to the enclosed space at such polling place. Proper identification shall consist of any one of the following:
(a) A Mississippi driver's license which was properly issued by the appropriate state agency;
(b) A valid Mississippi voter identification card issued under Section 2 of this act or other valid identification card issued by a branch, department, agency, or entity of the State of Mississippi, any other state, or the United States authorized by law to issue personal identification, provided that such identification card contains a photograph of the elector;
(c) A valid United States passport;
(d) A valid employee identification card containing a photograph of the elector and issued by any branch, department, agency, or entity of the United States government, this state, or any county, municipality, board, authority, or other entity of this state;
(e) A valid United States military identification card, provided that such identification card contains a photograph of the elector; or
(f) A valid tribal identification card containing a photograph of the elector.
(2) If an individual does not present the identification required under subsection (1) of this section, the individual shall be permitted to cast an affidavit ballot with respect to the election, except that the election manager may not make a determination that the individual is eligible to vote in the election unless the individual presents the identification required under subsection (1) of this section to the official not later than forty-eight (48) hours after casting the affidavit ballot.
(3) Any elector who falsely swears or affirms to any statement or who provides false identification under this act shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be fined not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) or imprisoned not more than five (5) years, or both.
SECTION 2. (1) Each circuit clerk shall provide at least one (1) place in the county at which it shall accept applications for and issue Mississippi voter identification cards to registered Mississippi electors which shall under state law be valid only for purposes of voter identification under Section 1 of this act and available only to registered electors of this state. No fee shall be charged or collected for the application for or issuance of a Mississippi voter identification card.
(2) No person shall be eligible for a Mississippi voter identification card if such person has a valid unexpired driver's license or identification card.
(3) The Mississippi voter identification card shall be captioned "MISSISSIPPI VOTER IDENTIFICATION CARD" and shall contain a prominent statement that under Mississippi law it is valid only as identification for voting purposes. The Mississippi voter identification card shall be laminated, shall contain a digital color photograph of the applicant, and shall include the following information:
(a) Full legal name;
(b) Address of residence;
(c) Birth date;
(d) Date
identification card was issued;
(e) Sex;
(f) Height;
(g) Weight;
(h) Eye color;
(i) County where the identification card was issued including a county number to be assigned for each county by the Secretary of State; and
(j) Such other information or identification as required by rule of the Secretary of State.
(4) The application for a Mississippi voter identification card shall elicit the information required under subsection (3) of this section and such other information as may be required by rule of the Secretary of State. The application shall be signed and sworn to by the applicant and any falsification or fraud in the making of the application shall constitute a felony offense subject to a fine of not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) or imprisonment for not more than five (5) years, or both.
(5) The circuit clerk shall require presentation and verification of the following information before issuing a Mississippi voter identification card to a person:
(a) A photo identity document, except that a nonphoto identity document is acceptable if it includes both the person's full legal name and date of birth;
(b) Documentation showing the person's date of birth;
(c) Evidence that the person is registered to vote in this state; and
(d) Documentation showing the person's name and address of principal residence.
(6) A Mississippi voter identification card shall remain valid so long as a person resides at the same address and remains qualified to vote. It shall be the duty of a person who moves his or her residence within the State of Mississippi to surrender his or her card to the circuit clerk of the county of his or her new residence; and such person may after such surrender apply for and receive a new card if such person is otherwise eligible under this section. It shall be the duty of a person who moves his or her residence outside the State of Mississippi or who ceases to be qualified to vote to surrender his or her card to the circuit clerk by which it was issued.
(7) The Secretary of State shall provide each circuit clerk with the necessary equipment, forms, supplies, and training for the production of the Mississippi voter identification cards and shall maintain such equipment.
(8) The Secretary of State shall adopt rules and regulations for the administration of this section and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, such rules and regulations may further define or prescribe the types of documentation required under subsection (5) of this section.
SECTION 3. Section 23-15-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-11. Every inhabitant of this state, except persons adjudicated to be non compos mentis, who is a citizen of the United States of America, eighteen (18) years old and upwards, who has resided in this state for thirty (30) days and for thirty (30) days in the county in which he seeks to vote, and for thirty (30) days in the incorporated municipality in which he seeks to vote, and who has been duly registered as an elector under Section 23-15-33, and who has never been convicted of any crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, shall be a qualified elector in and for the county, municipality and voting precinct of his residence, and shall be entitled to vote at any election provided that such person complies with the provisions of Sections 1 and 2 of House Bill No._____, 2011 Regular Session. Any person who will be eighteen (18) years of age or older on or before the date of the general election and who is duly registered to vote not less than thirty (30) days before the primary election associated with the general election, may vote in the primary election even though the person has not reached his or her eighteenth birthday at the time that the person seeks to vote at the primary election. No others than those specified in this section shall be entitled, or shall be allowed, to vote at any election.
SECTION 4. Section 23-15-541, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-541. (1) At all elections, the polls shall be opened at seven o'clock in the morning and be kept open until seven o'clock in the evening and no longer. Upon the opening of the polls, and not before, the managers of the election shall designate two (2) of their number, other than the manager theretofore designated to receive the blank ballots, who shall thereupon be known respectively as the initialing manager and the alternate initialing manager. The alternate initialing manager, in the absence of the initialing manager, shall perform all of the duties and undertake all of the responsibilities of the initialing manager. When any person entitled to vote shall appear to vote, the managers shall first identify the voter by requiring the voter to present a current, valid government-issued photo identification for which proof of citizenship is required; and then the person shall sign his name in a receipt book or booklet provided for that purpose and to be used at that election only and said receipt book or booklet shall be used in lieu of the list of voters who have voted formerly made by the managers or clerks; whereupon and not before, the initialing manager or, in his absence, the alternate initialing manager shall endorse his initials on the back of an official blank ballot, prepared in accordance with law, and at such place on the back of the ballot that the initials may be seen after the ballot has been marked and folded, and when so endorsed he shall deliver it to the voter, which ballot the voter shall mark in the manner provided by law, which when done the voter shall deliver the same to the initialing manager or, in his absence, to the alternate initialing manager, in the presence of the others, and the manager shall see that the ballot so delivered bears on the back thereof the genuine initials of the initialing manager, or alternate initialing manager, and if so, but not otherwise, the ballot shall be put into the ballot box; and when so done one (1) of the managers or a duly appointed clerk shall make the proper entry on the pollbook. If the voter is unable to write his name on the receipt book, a manager or clerk shall note on the back of the ballot that it was receipted for by his assistance.
(2) (a) A poll manager shall be authorized to allow a physically disabled person to vote curbside during the hours in which the polls are open as described in this section.
Where the managers of an election, exercising their sound discretion, determine that a physically disabled person has arrived at the polls in a motor vehicle to vote, two (2) or more managers shall carry the pollbook, the receipt book, and a ballot or voting device to the motor vehicle, and after determining whether the disabled person is a qualified elector as provided by law, shall allow the disabled elector to cast his or her ballot in secret. After the disabled elector casts his or her ballot, the managers shall mark the pollbook "voted" by the elector's name in the pollbook.
(b) If the ballot that is provided to the disabled elector is a paper ballot, the initialing manager shall initial the ballot as provided by law, and the disabled elector, after marking his or her ballot shall fold the ballot or place it in the ballot sleeve. The initialing manager or alternate initialing manager shall determine whether the initials on the ballot are genuine, and upon a determination that the initials are genuine, mark "voted" by the elector's name. The initialing manager or alternate initialing manager shall without delay place the ballot in the ballot box.
(c) If, while a voter is voting by curbside, there are less than three (3) managers immediately present within the polling place conducting an election or a political party primary, all voting at the polls shall stop until the managers conducting the curbside voting procedure return so that there are at least three (3) poll managers immediately present within the polling place to conduct the election or party primary at all times, and until a minimum of three (3) managers are present, the remaining poll manager or managers shall ensure the security of the ballot box, the voting devices, and any ballots and election materials.
SECTION 5. Section 23-15-631, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-631. (1) The registrar shall enclose with each ballot provided to an absent elector separate printed instructions furnished by him containing the following:
(a) All absentee voters, excepting those with temporary or permanent physical disabilities or those who are sixty-five (65) years of age or older, who mark their ballots in the county of the residence shall use the registrar of that county as the witness. The absentee voter shall come to the office of the registrar and neither the registrar nor his deputy shall be required to go out of the registrar's office to serve as an attesting witness.
(b) Upon receipt of the enclosed ballot, you will not mark the ballot except in view or sight of the attesting witness. In the sight or view of the attesting witness, mark the ballot according to instructions.
(c) After marking the ballot, fill out and sign the "ELECTOR'S CERTIFICATE" on back of the envelope so that the signature shall be across the flap of the envelope so as to insure the integrity of the ballot. Before sealing the envelope, enclose a copy of a current, valid government-issued photo identification for which proof of citizenship is required, with the marked ballot. All absent electors shall have the attesting witness sign the "ATTESTING WITNESS CERTIFICATE" across the flap on back of the envelope. Place necessary postage on the envelope and deposit it in the post office or some government receptacle provided for deposit of mail so that the absent elector's ballot, excepting presidential absentee ballots, will reach the registrar in which your precinct is located not later than 5:00 p.m. on the day preceding the date of the election.
Any notary public, United States postmaster, assistant United States postmaster, United States postal supervisor, clerk in charge of a contract postal station, or any officer having authority to administer an oath or take an acknowledgment may be an attesting witness; provided, however, that in the case of an absent elector who is temporarily or permanently physically disabled, the attesting witness may be any person eighteen (18) years of age or older and such person is not required to have the authority to administer an oath. If a postmaster, assistant postmaster, postal supervisor, or clerk in charge of a contract postal station acts as an attesting witness, his signature on the elector's certificate must be authenticated by the cancellation stamp of their respective post offices. If one or the other officers herein named acts as attesting witness, his signature on the elector's certificate, together with his title and address, but no seal, shall be required. Any affidavits made by an absent elector who is in the Armed Forces may be executed before a commissioned officer, warrant officer, or noncommissioned officer not lower in grade than sergeant rating or any person authorized to administer oaths.
(d) When the application accompanies the ballot it shall not be returned in the same envelope as the ballot but shall be returned in a separate preaddressed envelope provided by the registrar.
(e) A person who is a candidate for public office may not be an attesting witness for any absentee ballot upon which the person's name appears.
(f) Any voter casting an absentee ballot who declares that he requires assistance to vote by reason of blindness, temporary or permanent physical disability or inability to read or write, shall be entitled to receive assistance in the marking of his absentee ballot and in completing the affidavit on the absentee ballot envelope. The voter may be given assistance by anyone of the voter's choice other than a candidate whose name appears on the absentee ballot being marked, or the voter's employer, or agent of that employer. In order to ensure the integrity of the ballot, any person who provides assistance to an absentee voter shall be required to sign and complete the "Certificate of Person Providing Voter Assistance" on the absentee ballot envelope.
(2) The foregoing instructions required to be provided by the registrar to the elector shall also constitute the substantive law pertaining to the handling of absentee ballots by the elector and registrar.
SECTION 6. Section 23-15-639, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-639. (1) In elections in which direct recording electronic voting systems are not utilized, the examination and counting of absentee ballots shall be conducted as follows:
(a) At the close of the regular balloting and at the close of the polls, the election managers of each voting precinct shall first take the envelopes containing the absentee ballots of such electors from the box, and the name, address and precinct inscribed on each envelope shall be announced by the election managers.
(b) The signature on the application shall then be compared with the signature on the back of the envelope. If it corresponds and the affidavit, if one is required, is sufficient and the election managers find that the applicant is a registered and qualified voter or otherwise qualified to vote, and that he has not appeared in person and voted at the election, the envelope shall then be opened and the ballot removed from the envelope, without its being unfolded, or permitted to be unfolded or examined.
(c) Having observed and found the ballot to be regular as far as can be observed from its official endorsement and having found a copy of a current, valid government-issued photo identification for which proof of citizenship is required, the election managers shall deposit it in the ballot box with the other ballots before counting any ballots and enter the voter's name in the receipt book provided for that purpose and mark "VOTED" in the pollbook or poll list as if he had been present and voted in person. If voting machines are used, all absentee ballots shall be placed in the ballot box before any ballots are counted, and the election managers in each precinct shall immediately count such absentee ballots and add them to the votes cast in the voting machine or device.
(2) In elections in which direct recording electronic voting systems are utilized, the examination and counting of absentee ballots shall be conducted as follows:
(a) At the close of the regular balloting and at the close of the polls, the election managers of each voting precinct shall first take the envelopes containing the absentee ballots of such electors from the box, and the name, address and precinct inscribed on each envelope shall be announced by the election managers.
(b) The signature on the application shall then be compared with the signature on the back of the envelope. If it corresponds and the affidavit, if one is required, is sufficient and the election managers find that the applicant is a registered and qualified voter or otherwise qualified to vote, and that he has not appeared in person and voted at the election, the unopened envelope shall be marked "ACCEPTED" and the election managers shall enter the voter's name in the receipt book provided for that purpose and mark "VOTED" in the pollbook or poll list as if he had been present and voted in person.
(c) All absentee ballot envelopes shall then be placed in the secure ballot transfer case and delivered to the officials in charge of conducting the election at the central tabulation point of the county. The official in charge of the election shall open the envelopes marked "ACCEPTED" and remove the ballot from the envelope.
(d) Having observed the ballot to be regular as far as can be observed from its official endorsement, the absentee ballot shall be processed through the central optical scanner. The scanned totals shall then be combined with the direct recording electronic voting system totals for the unofficial vote count.
When there is a conflict between an electronic voting system and a paper record, then there is a rebuttable presumption that the paper record is correct.
SECTION 7. Section 23-15-641, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-641. (1) If an affidavit or the certificate of the officer before whom the affidavit is taken is required and such affidavit or certificate is found to be insufficient, or if it is found that the signatures do not correspond, or that the applicant is not a duly qualified elector in the precinct, or otherwise qualified to vote, or that the ballot envelope is open or has been opened and resealed, or the voter is not eligible to vote absentee or that the voter is present and has voted within the precinct where he represents himself to be a qualified elector, or otherwise qualified to vote, on the date of the election at such precinct, the previously cast vote shall not be allowed. Without opening the voter's envelope the commissioners of election, designated executive committee members or election managers, as appropriate, shall mark across its face "REJECTED", with the reason therefor.
(2) If the ballot envelope contains more than one (1) ballot of any kind, the ballot shall not be counted but shall be marked "REJECTED", with the reason therefor. The voter's envelopes and affidavits, and the voter's envelope with its contents unopened, when such vote is rejected, shall be retained and preserved in the same manner as other ballots at the election. Such votes may be challenged in the same manner and for the same reasons that any other vote cast in such election may be challenged.
(3) (a) If an affidavit is required and the officials find that the affidavit is insufficient, or if the officials find that the absentee voter is otherwise disqualified to vote, the envelope shall not be opened and a commissioner or executive committee member shall write across the face of the envelope "REJECTED" giving the reason therefor, and the registrar shall promptly notify the voter of such rejection.
(b) If after opening the envelope, no copy of a current, valid government-issued photo identification for which proof of citizenship is required, is found, the commissioner or executive committee shall write across the face of the envelope "REJECTED" giving the reason therefor, and the registrar shall promptly notify the voter of its rejection.
(4) The ballots marked "REJECTED" shall be placed in a separate envelope in the secure ballot transfer case and delivered to the officials in charge of conducting the election at the central tabulation point of the county.
SECTION 8. Section 23-15-719, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-719. (1) Immediately upon completion of an application filed pursuant to the provisions of paragraph (a) of Section 23-15-715, the registrar shall deliver the necessary ballots to the applicant. The registrar shall only deliver the ballots to the applicant by mail or to the applicant in the registrar's office. The registrar shall not personally hand deliver ballots to voters, unless he delivers the ballots in the office of the registrar. The elector shall fill in his ballot in secret. After the elector has properly marked the ballot and properly folded it, he shall deposit it in the envelope furnished him by the registrar. After the marked ballot is deposited in the envelope, the elector shall enclose a copy of a current, valid government-issued photo identification for which proof of citizenship is required.
After he has sealed the envelope, he shall subscribe and swear to an affidavit in the following form, which shall be printed on the back of the envelope containing the applicant's ballot:
"STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
COUNTY OF ___________
I, __________, do solemnly swear that this envelope contains the ballot marked by me indicating my choice of the candidates or propositions to be submitted at the election to be held on the ___ day of __________, 2___, and I hereby authorize the registrar to place this envelope in the ballot box on my behalf, and I further authorize the election managers to open this envelope and place my ballot among the other ballots cast before such ballots are counted, and record my name on the poll list as if I were present in person and voted.
I further swear that I marked the enclosed ballot in secret.
________________________
(Signature of voter)
SWORN TO AND SUBSCRIBED before me, __________, this the ___ day of __________, 2___.
(Registrar) ________________________
(Registrar)"
After the completion of the requirements of this section, the elector shall deliver the envelope containing the ballot to the registrar.
(2) If the voter has received assistance in marking his ballot, the person providing the assistance shall complete the following form which shall be printed on the back of the envelope containing the applicant's ballot:
"CERTIFICATE OF PERSON PROVIDING VOTER ASSISTANCE
(To be completed only if the voter has received assistance in marking the enclosed ballot.) I hereby certify that the above-named voter declared to me that he or she is blind, temporarily or permanently physically disabled, or cannot read or write, and that the voter requested that I assist the voter in marking the enclosed absentee ballot. I hereby certify that the ballot preferences on the enclosed ballot are those communicated by the voter to me, and that I have marked the enclosed ballot in accordance with the voter's instructions.
___________________________________________
Signature of person providing assistance
___________________________________________
Printed name of person providing assistance
___________________________________________
Address of person providing assistance
___________________________________________
Date and time assistance provided
___________________________________________
Family relationship to voter (if any)"
(3) The envelope used pursuant to this section shall not contain the form prescribed by Section 23-15-635 and shall have printed on the flap on the back of the envelope in bold print and in a distinguishing color, the following: "YOUR VOTE WILL BE REJECTED AND NOT COUNTED IF THIS ENVELOPE IS NOT SIGNED ACROSS THE FLAP OF THIS ENVELOPE BY YOU AND AN ATTESTING WITNESS."
SECTION 9. Section 23-15-721, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-721. (1) Electors temporarily residing outside the county and obtaining an absentee ballot under the provisions of paragraph (b) of Section 23-15-715 shall appear before any official authorized to administer oaths or other official authorized to witness absentee balloting as provided in this chapter. The elector shall exhibit to such official his absentee ballot unmarked and thereupon proceed in secret to fill in his ballot. After the elector has properly marked the ballot and properly folded it, he shall deposit it in the envelope furnished him. After the marked ballot is deposited in the envelope, the elector shall enclose a copy of a current, valid government-issued photo identification for which proof of citizenship is required. After he has sealed the envelope he shall deliver it to the official before whom he is appearing and shall subscribe and swear to the elector's certificate provided for in Section 23-15-635, which affidavit shall be printed on the back of the envelope as provided for in Section 23-15-635.
(2) Electors who are temporarily or permanently physically disabled shall sign the elector's certificate and the certificate of attesting witness shall be signed by any person eighteen (18) years of age or older.
(3) After the completion of the requirements of this section, the elector shall mail the envelope containing the ballot to the registrar in the county wherein said elector is qualified to vote. Said ballots must be received by the registrar prior to 5:00 p.m. on the day preceding the election to be counted.
SECTION 10. 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 11. 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.