Senate Bill 2631

AN ACT TO CREATE THE "RESTORATION OF VOTING RIGHTS ACT"; TO PROVIDE THAT A PERSON WHO WAS DISQUALIFIED AS AN ELECTOR FOR THE COMMISSION OF NONVIOLENT FELONIOUS CRIMES SHALL HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE RESTORED AUTOMATICALLY UPON COMPLETION OF THE SENTENCE, PAYMENT OF ALL FINES AND RESTITUTION AND A SEVEN-YEAR NONOFFENDING PERIOD FOLLOWING THE COMPLETION OF HIS OR HER SENTENCE; TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-11 AND 23-15-19, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. (1) This section shall be known and may be cited as the "Restoration of Voting Rights Act."

(2) (a) Except as provided by Section 99-19-37, any person who has lost the right of suffrage under Section 241 of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, or under any statute enacted by the Legislature under Section 244A of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, but was convicted of a nonviolent felony or felonies, shall automatically be restored suffrage only when that person has fully completed all of the following:

(i) The individual has fully served all the terms of his or her sentence, including any term of incarceration, parole, probation or post-release supervision;

(ii) The individual has paid all fees, fines and restitution associated with the conviction; and

(iii) The individual has remained crime- and arrest-free in the seven-year period following the full completion of sentence and any term of incarceration, parole, probation or post-release supervision.

For the purpose of this act, "nonviolent felony" shall be defined as any felony that does not involve the use or threat of physical force or violence against another person or result in the significant harm to individuals or property, as prescribed by law.

(b) Upon satisfaction of the requirements in paragraph (a) of this subsection, the person's right to vote shall be restored by operation of law as though an act had been passed by the Legislature in accordance with Section 253 of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 restoring the right of suffrage to the person. If a person whose suffrage has been restored under this act shall appear in the registrar's office to register as a qualified elector, the person's name shall be entered on the pollbooks if the person is otherwise a qualified elector.

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 convicted of vote fraud or 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 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. If a person has been convicted of a nonviolent felony crime or crimes for which disenfranchisement has been prescribed by the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 or by statute, but the individual is eligible to vote under the provisions of Section 1 of this act, the person shall not be disqualified as an elector due to the conviction. 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. 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, 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. 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. If a person has been convicted of a nonviolent felony crime or crimes for which disenfranchisement has been prescribed by the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 or by statute, but the individual is eligible to vote under the provisions of Section 1 of this act, the person shall not be disqualified as an elector due to the conviction and shall have his or her name restored to the Statewide Elections Management System.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the date that the constitutional amendment proposed in Senate Concurrent Resolution No. ____, 2025 Regular Session, is approved by the electorate.