House Bill 1500

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-615, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT, IN ADDITION TO THE PROCEDURAL AUDIT CONDUCTED BY THE SECRETARY OF STATE, THE ELECTION COMMISSIONERS, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE REGISTRAR, SHALL MANUALLY TABULATE THE BALLOTS CAST IN THE PRECINCTS THAT THE SECRETARY OF STATE HAS CONDUCTED A PROCEDURAL AUDIT IN AND COMPARE THE RESULTS WITH THE RESULTS PRODUCED BY THE VOTING MACHINE; TO PROVIDE THAT IF A DISCREPANCY OF MORE THAN ONE PERCENT EXISTS, THE ELECTION COMMISSIONERS, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE REGISTRAR, SHALL COMMENCE A FULL MANUAL HAND COUNT OF BALLOTS; TO PROVIDE THAT THE REGISTRAR SHALL PROMPTLY REPORT RESULTS OF THE MANUAL TABULATION TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE; TO PROVIDE WHAT SHALL BE INCLUDED IN THE REPORT; TO PROVIDE THAT THE SECRETARY OF STATE SHALL PUBLISH HIS REPORT AS WELL AS THE REPORT OF THE ELECTION COMMISSIONERS ON HIS OFFICIAL WEBSITE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Section 23-15-615, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

23-15-615. The Secretary of State shall be authorized to audit election procedures of the 2023, 2024, 2026 and 2027 general elections in the counties of this state. The conduction of an audit shall not create excessive interference with the general duties and responsibilities of the Secretary of State, county registrar, and county election commission.

(a) The Secretary of State shall audit all eighty-two (82) counties by randomly selecting from each of the congressional districts during the 2023, 2024, 2026 and 2027 general elections, and randomly selecting no more than twenty-five percent (25%) of the total precincts or no more than five (5) precincts, whichever is less in each county. No county or precinct shall be selected for audit on the basis of race, geographical location or voting trends.

(i) If the Secretary of State finds any issues that could affect the outcome of an election or cause voters to be disenfranchised, then the Secretary of State, in partnership with the local county election officials, shall develop a plan to correct those issues, which shall include additional training.

(ii) The Secretary of State will have the discretion to randomly select the counties and precincts that will be audited, but must do so at least ninety (90) days before the election to be audited. No audit shall occur if the election is challenged as provided in Sections 23-15-927, 23-15-951 or 23-15-955. No audit shall occur until after a ballot box examination has occurred and the period to contest an election has expired, or if a runoff election occurs, the audit shall occur after the runoff election.

(b) In conducting a procedural audit, the Secretary of State shall audit the following:

(i) Procedures for testing of OMR equipment before counting ballots, including the ballots used for testing of OMR equipment, as required by Section 23-15-521;

(ii) Ballot accounting reports, seal logs, poll books, and receipt books as required to be kept by Section 23-15-519;

(iii) Absentee ballots, absentee ballot applications, and absentee ballot envelopes, along with the list provided to the resolution board, to ensure appropriate processing and counting of absentee ballots as required by Section 23-15-631 et seq.; and

(iv) Affidavit ballots and affidavit ballot envelopes, including affidavit ballot receipt book to ensure compliance with appropriate processing and counting of affidavit ballots as required by Section 23-15-573.

(c) (i) In addition, no later than thirty (30) days after a primary or general election, the election commissioners, in conjunction with the registrar, shall manually tabulate the ballots cast in the precincts that the Secretary of State has conducted a procedural audit in and compare the results with the results produced by the voting machine. In the event a discrepancy of more than one percent (1%) exists, the election commissioners, in conjunction with the registrar, shall commence a full manual hand count of ballots.

(ii) The registrar shall promptly report results of the manual tabulation to the Secretary of State. The report shall include, but is not limited to:

1. The total number of voters marked as VOTED in the pollbook of each precinct in the county;

2. The sum of the total number of voters who signed the receipt book at the polling place on election day and the total number of voters who cast an absentee ballot;

3. The total number of ballots received by the poll managers from local election officials;

4. The sum of the total number of paper ballots voted on election day, the number of unused ballots and the number of spoiled ballots;

5. The total number of electronic ballots cast; and

6. The total number of ballots cast.

( * * *cd) By January 20, 2027, the Secretary of State shall provide a recommendation to the Mississippi Legislature on whether the procedures to be audited in paragraph (b) should be expanded or reduced.

( * * *de) The Secretary of State shall develop a post-election audit manual which shall detail the policies and procedures for conducting post-election audits. The post-election audit manual shall not be altered less than ninety (90) days before an election in which the post-election audit manual shall be utilized in conducting a post-election audit.

( * * *ef) No later than one hundred twenty (120) days after the election that the Secretary of State and the election commissioners * * *is are auditing, the Secretary of State shall compile a report of the procedural audits conducted and shall submit the report to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Chairmen of the Senate and House Election Committees. Prior to submitting the report, the Secretary of State shall allow the local county election officials to review the report and provide comments that will be submitted along with the report. The report shall first list all counties audited alphabetically with any major finding which may affect the outcome of the election and whether any voters were disenfranchised, then list out a detailed report of any major or minor findings, along with recommended changes to both county and Secretary of State practices. The Secretary of State shall also post the report on the official website of the Secretary of State.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024.