Senate Bill 2135

AN ACT TO RESTORE THE RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE TO ANY PERSON DISQUALIFIED BY REASON OF CRIMINAL CONVICTION UPON COMPLETION OF SENTENCE; TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-11, 23-15-19, 23-15-47 AND 23-15-213, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY THERETO; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. (1) The right of suffrage is hereby fully and completely restored to any person disqualified by reason of criminal conviction upon sentence completion.

(2) "Sentence" is defined as, and limited to, the term of incarceration, probation and parole for a disqualifying conviction.

SECTION 2. 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 or she seeks to vote, and for thirty (30) days in the incorporated municipality in which he or she seeks to vote, and who has been duly registered as an elector under Section 23-15-33, and who * * * ~~has never been~~, if convicted of vote fraud or of any crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, has completed his or her sentence as defined in Section 1 of this act, shall be a qualified elector in and for the county, municipality and voting precinct of his or her residence, and shall be entitled to vote at any election upon compliance with Section 23-15-563. If the thirtieth day to register before an election falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, the registration applications submitted on the business day immediately following the Sunday or legal holiday shall be accepted and entered in the Statewide Elections Management System for the purpose of enabling voters to vote in the next election. 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 3. Section 23-15-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-19. (1) Except when prohibited under subsection (2) of this section, Any person who has been convicted of vote fraud or any crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, such crimes defined as "disenfranchising," shall not be registered if the person seeking registration has not yet completed his or her sentence as defined in Section 1 of this act, or if registered the name of the person shall be removed from the Statewide Elections Management System by the registrar or the election commissioners of the county of his or her residence if the person at the time of removal has not yet completed his or her sentence as defined in Section 1 of this act. Whenever any person shall be convicted in the circuit court of his or her county of a disenfranchising crime, the county registrar shall thereupon remove his or her name from the Statewide Elections Management System; and whenever any person shall be convicted of a disenfranchising crime in any other court of any county, the presiding judge of the court shall, on demand, certify the fact in writing to the registrar of the county in which the voter resides, who shall thereupon remove the name of the person from the Statewide Elections Management System and retain the certificate as a record of his or her office.

(2) No person may be denied the right to register to vote and cast a ballot on the basis of his or her conviction of a disenfranchising offense after sentence completion as defined in Section 1 of this act.

SECTION 4. Section 23-15-47, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-47. (1) Any person who is qualified to register to vote in the State of Mississippi may register to vote by mail-in application in the manner prescribed in this section.

(2) The following procedure shall be used in the registration of electors by mail:

(a) Any qualified elector may register to vote by mailing or delivering a completed mail-in application to his or her county registrar at least thirty (30) days before any election; however, if the thirtieth day to register before an election falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, the registration applications submitted on the business day immediately following the Sunday or legal holiday shall be accepted and entered into the Statewide Elections Management System for the purpose of enabling voters to vote in the next election. The postmark date of a mailed application shall be the applicant's date of registration.

(b) Upon receipt of a mail-in application, the county registrar shall stamp the application with the date of receipt, and shall verify the application either by matching the applicant's Mississippi driver's license number through the Mississippi Department of Public Safety or by matching the applicant's social security number through the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators. Within fourteen (14) days of receipt of a mail-in registration application, the county registrar shall complete action on the application, including any attempts to notify the applicant of the status of his or her application.

(c) If the county registrar determines that the applicant is qualified and his or her application is legible and complete, the county registrar shall mail the applicant written notification that the application has been approved, specifying the county voting precinct, municipal voting precinct, if any, polling place and supervisor district in which the person shall vote. This written notification of approval containing the specified information shall be the voter's registration card. The registration card shall be provided by the county registrar to the applicant in accordance with Section 23-15-39. Upon entry of the voter registration information into the Statewide Elections Management System, the system shall assign a voter registration number to the applicant. The assigned voter registration number shall be clearly shown on the written notification of approval. In mailing the written notification, the county registrar shall note the following on the envelope: "DO NOT FORWARD". If any registration notification form is returned as undeliverable, the voter's registration shall be void.

(d) A mail-in application shall be rejected for any of the following reasons:

(i) An incomplete portion of the application makes it impossible for the registrar to determine the eligibility of the applicant to register;

(ii) A portion of the application is illegible in the opinion of the county registrar and makes it impossible to determine the eligibility of the applicant to register;

(iii) The county registrar is unable to determine, from the address and information stated on the application, the precinct in which the voter should be assigned or the supervisor district in which he or she is entitled to vote;

(iv) The applicant is not qualified to register to vote pursuant to Section 23-15-11;

(v) The county registrar determines that the applicant is already registered as a qualified elector of the county;

(vi) The county registrar is unable to verify the application pursuant to subsection (2)(b) of this section.

(e) If the mail-in application of a person is subject to rejection for any of the reasons set forth in paragraph (d)(i) through (iii) of this subsection, and it appears to the county registrar that the defect or omission is of such a minor nature and that any necessary additional information may be supplied by the applicant over the telephone or by further correspondence, the county registrar may write or call the applicant at the telephone number or address, or both, provided on the application. If the county registrar is able to contact the applicant by mail or telephone, the county registrar shall attempt to ascertain the necessary information, and if this information is sufficient for the registrar to complete the application, the applicant shall be registered. If the necessary information cannot be obtained by mail or telephone, or is not sufficient to complete the application within fourteen (14) days of receipt, the county registrar shall give the applicant written notice of the rejection and provide the reason for the rejection. The county registrar shall further inform the applicant that he or she has a right to attempt to register by appearing in person or by filing another mail-in application.

(f) If a mail-in application is subject to rejection for the reason stated in paragraph (d)(v) of this subsection and the "present home address" portion of the application is different from the residence address for the applicant found in the Statewide Elections Management System, the mail-in application shall be deemed a written request to update the voter's registration pursuant to Section 23-15-13. The county registrar or the election commissioners shall update the voter's residence address in the Statewide Elections Management System and, if necessary, advise the voter of a change in the location of his or her county or municipal polling place by mailing the voter a new voter registration card.

(3) The instructions and the application form for voter registration by mail shall be in a form established by rule duly adopted by the Secretary of State, and both shall state that a person is fully and completely qualified to register to vote and cast a ballot after his or her conviction of a disenfranchising offense upon sentence completion as defined in Section 1 of this act.

(4) (a) The Secretary of State shall prepare and furnish without charge the necessary forms for application for voter registration by mail to each county registrar, municipal clerk, all public schools, each private school that requests such applications, and all public libraries.

(b) The Secretary of State shall distribute without charge sufficient forms for application for voter registration by mail to the Commissioner of Public Safety, who shall distribute the forms to each driver's license examining and renewal station in the state, and shall ensure that the forms are regularly available to the public at such stations.

(c) Bulk quantities of forms for application for voter registration by mail shall be furnished by the Secretary of State to any person or organization. The Secretary of State shall charge a person or organization the actual cost he or she incurs in providing bulk quantities of forms for application for voter registration to such person or organization.

(5) The originals of completed mail-in applications shall remain on file in the office of the county registrar with copies retained in the Statewide Elections Management System.

(6) If the applicant indicates on the application that he or she resides within the city limits of a city or town in the county of registration, the county registrar shall enter the information into the Statewide Elections Management System.

(7) If the applicant indicates on the application that he or she has previously registered to vote in another county of this state or another state, notice to the voter's previous county of registration in this state shall be provided through the Statewide Elections Management System. If the voter's previous place of registration was in another state, notice shall be provided to the voter's previous state of residence.

(8) Any person who attempts to register to vote by mail shall be subject to the penalties for false registration provided for in Section 23-15-17.

SECTION 5. Section 23-15-213, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-213. (1) There shall be elected five (5) election commissioners for each county whose terms of office shall commence on the first Monday of January following their election and who shall serve for a term of four (4) years. Each of the commissioners shall be required to attend a training seminar provided by the Secretary of State and satisfactorily complete a skills assessment, which shall include adequate training, including on an up-to-date database, to ensure that persons are not denied the right to register to vote and cast a ballot on the basis of his or her conviction of a disenfranchising offense, according to its statutory code citation, after sentence completion as defined in Section 1 of this act, and before acting, shall take and subscribe the oath of office prescribed by the Constitution. The oath shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the chancery court. Upon filing the oath of office, the election commissioner may be provided access to the Statewide Elections Management System for the purpose of performing his or her duties. While engaged in their duties, the commissioners shall be conservators of the peace in the county, with all the duties and powers of such. This subsection's requirement to attend a training seminar provided by the Secretary of State as described in this subsection is effective immediately upon passage of this act such that election commissioners overseeing the 2023 elections shall be so trained.

(2) (a) At the general election in 2024 and every four (4) years thereafter, the qualified electors of the board of supervisors' Districts One, Three and Five shall elect in their district one (1) election commissioner.

(b) At the general election in 2023 and every four (4) years thereafter, the qualified electors of the board of supervisors' Districts Two and Four shall elect in their district one (1) election commissioner.

(c) No more than one (1) commissioner shall be a resident of and reside in each supervisors district of the county; it being the purpose of this section that the county board of election commissioners shall consist of one (1) person from each supervisors district of the county and that each commissioner be elected from the supervisors district in which he or she resides.

(3) Candidates for county election commissioner shall qualify by filing with the clerk of the board of supervisors of their respective counties a petition personally signed by not less than fifty (50) qualified electors of the supervisors district in which they reside, requesting that they be a candidate, by 5:00 p.m. not later than February 1 of the year in which the election occurs and unless the petition is filed within the required time, their names shall not be placed upon the ballot. All candidates shall declare in writing their party affiliation, if any, to the board of supervisors, and such party affiliation shall be shown on the official ballot.

(4) The petition shall have attached thereto a certificate of the county registrar showing the number of qualified electors on each petition, which shall be furnished by the registrar on request. The board shall determine the sufficiency of the petition, and if the petition contains the required number of signatures and is filed within the time required, the president of the board shall verify that the candidate is a resident of the supervisors district in which he or she seeks election and that the candidate is otherwise qualified as provided by law, and shall certify that the candidate is qualified to the chair or secretary of the county election commission and the names of the candidates shall be placed upon the ballot for the ensuing election. No county election commissioner shall serve or be considered as elected until he or she has received a majority of the votes cast for the position or post for which he or she is a candidate. If a majority vote is not received in the first election, then the two (2) candidates receiving the most votes for each position or post shall be placed upon the ballot for a second election to be held three (3) weeks later in accordance with appropriate procedures followed in other elections involving runoff candidates.

(5) In the first meeting in January of each year, the county election commissioners shall organize by electing a chair and a secretary, who shall serve a one-year term. The county election commissioners shall provide the names of the chair and secretary to the Secretary of State and provide notice of any change in officers which may occur during the year.

(6) It shall be the duty of the chair to have the official ballot printed and distributed at each general or special election.

SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.