House Bill 854

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-637 AND 23-15-639, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE WHERE ABSENTEE BALLOTS ARE COUNTED; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 23-15-637, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-637. Absentee ballots received by mail, excluding presidential ballots as provided for in Sections 23-15-731 and 23-15-733, must be received by the registrar by 5:00 p.m. on the date preceding the election; any received after such time shall be handled as provided in Section 23-15-647 and shall not be counted. All ballots cast by the absent elector appearing in person in the office of the registrar shall be cast not later than 12:00 noon on the Saturday immediately preceding elections held on Tuesday, the Thursday immediately preceding elections held on Saturday, or the second day immediately preceding the date of elections held on other days. The registrar shall keep all absentee ballots which have been timely cast in the registrar's office until the close of regular balloting and at the close of the polls. The registrar shall send a list of the names of all persons who voted by absentee ballot to the polls.

SECTION 2. 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 in the registrar's office by a resolution committee appointed by the election commissioners during a general election and appointed by the executive committee during a primary election, as follows:

(a) At the close of the regular balloting and at the close of the polls, the resolution committee of each voting precinct shall first take the envelopes containing the absentee ballots of such electors from the box.

(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 resolution committee finds 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, the resolution committee 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. 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 in the registrar's office by a resolution committee appointed by the election commissioners during a general election and appointed by the executive committee during a primary election, 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 * * *.

(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 resolution committee finds 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 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.