Elections; allow individuals to vote by affidavit if they register after 30-day cut off but before election day.

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To: Apportionment and
Elections
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representatives Butler-Washington,
James-Jones, Gibbs (72nd)

HOUSE BILL NO. 1001

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-573, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO AUTHORIZE AN INDIVIDUAL TO VOTE BY AFFIDAVIT ON ELECTION DAY IF 2
THE INDIVIDUAL REGISTERED AFTER THE THIRTY-DAY QUALIFYING CUTOFF 3
BUT BEFORE ELECTION DAY; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 5
SECTION 1. Section 23-15-573, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 6
amended as follows: 7
23-15-573. (1) If any person declares that he or she is a 8
registered voter in the jurisdiction in which he or she offers to 9
vote and that he or she is eligible to vote in the election, but 10
his or her name does not appear upon the pollbooks, or that he or 11
she is not able to cast a regular election day ballot under a 12
provision of state or federal law but is otherwise qualified to 13
vote, or that he or she has been illegally denied registration, or 14
that he or she is unable to present an acceptable form of photo 15
identification, or that he or she has validly registered to vote 16
after the thirty-day cutoff period to be eligible to cast a 17
regular election day ballot: 18
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(a) A poll manager shall notify the person that he or 19
she may cast an affidavit ballot at the election. 20
(b) The person shall be permitted to cast an affidavit 21
ballot at the polling place upon execution of a written affidavit 22
before one (1) of the poll managers stating that the individual: 23
(i) Believes he or she is a registered voter in 24
the jurisdiction in which he or she desires to vote and is 25
eligible to vote in the election; or 26
(ii) Is not able to cast a regular election day 27
ballot under a provision of state or federal law but is otherwise 28
qualified to vote; or 29
(iii) Believes that he or she has been illegally 30
denied registration; or 31
(iv) Is unable to present an acceptable form of 32
photo identification * * *; or 33
(v) Has validly registered to vote after the 34
thirty-day cutoff period to be eligible to cast a regular day 35
ballot. 36
(c) The poll manager shall allow the individual to mark 37
a paper ballot properly endorsed by the initialing poll manager or 38
alternate initialing poll manager in accordance with Section 39
23-15-541, which shall be delivered by him or her to the proper 40
election official who shall enclose it in an affidavit ballot 41
envelope, with the written and signed affidavit of the voter 42
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affixed to the envelope, seal the envelope and mark plainly upon 43
it the name of the person offering to vote. 44
(2) The affidavit ballot envelope shall include: 45
(a) The complete name of the voter; 46
(b) A present and previous physical and mailing address 47
of the voter; 48
(c) Telephone numbers where the voter may be contacted; 49
(d) A statement that the affiant believes he or she is 50
registered to vote in the jurisdiction in which he or she offers 51
to vote; 52
(e) The signature of the affiant; and 53
(f) The signature of the poll manager at the polling 54
place at which the affiant offers to vote. 55
(3) (a) A separate receipt book shall be maintained for 56
affidavit voters, and the affidavit voters shall sign the receipt 57
book upon completing the affidavit ballot. 58
(b) If the affidavit voter is casting an affidavit 59
ballot because the voter is unable to present an acceptable form 60
of photo identification and the voter's name appears in the 61
pollbook, then the poll manager shall write "NO ID" across from 62
the voter's name and in the appropriate column in the pollbook. 63
(c) In canvassing the returns of the election, the 64
executive committee in primary elections, or the election 65
commissioners in other elections, shall examine the records and 66
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allow the ballot to be counted, or not counted as it appears 67
legal. 68
(d) An affidavit ballot of a voter who was unable to 69
present an acceptable form of photo identification shall not be 70
rejected for this reason if the voter does either of the 71
following: 72
(i) Returns to the circuit clerk's office, or to 73
the municipal clerk's office for municipal elections, within five 74
(5) business days after the date of the election and presents an 75
acceptable form of photo identification; 76
(ii) Returns to the circuit clerk's office within 77
five (5) business days after the date of the election to obtain 78
the Mississippi Voter Identification Card, or in municipal 79
election, returns to the municipal clerk's office within five (5) 80
business days after the date of the election to present his or her 81
Mississippi Voter Identification Card or Temporary Mississippi 82
Voter Identification Card; or 83
(iii) Returns to the circuit clerk's office, or to 84
the municipal clerk's office for municipal elections, within five 85
(5) business days after the date of the election to execute a 86
separate Affidavit of Religious Objection. 87
(4) When a person is offered the opportunity to vote by 88
affidavit ballot, he or she shall be provided with written 89
information that informs the person how to ascertain whether his 90
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or her affidavit ballot was counted and, if the vote was not 91
counted, the reasons the vote was not counted. 92
(5) The officials in charge of the election shall process 93
all affidavit ballots by using the Statewide Elections Management 94
System. The officials in charge of the election shall account for 95
all affidavit ballots cast in each election, categorizing the 96
affidavit ballots cast by reason and recording the total number of 97
affidavit ballots counted and not counted in each such category in 98
the Statewide Elections Management System. 99
(6) The Secretary of State shall, by rule duly adopted, 100
establish a uniform affidavit ballot envelope that shall be used 101
in all elections in this state. The Secretary of State shall 102
print and distribute a sufficient number of affidavit ballot 103
envelopes to the registrar of each county for use in elections. 104
The registrar shall distribute the affidavit ballot envelopes to 105
municipal and county executive committees for use in primary 106
elections and to municipal and county election commissioners for 107
use in all other elections. 108
(7) County registrars and municipal registrars shall 109
maintain a secure free access system that complies with the Help 110
America Vote Act of 2002, by which persons who vote by affidavit 111
ballot may determine if their ballots were counted, and if not, 112
the reasons the ballot was not counted. 113
(8) Any person who votes in any election as a result of a 114
federal or state court order or other order extending the time 115
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ST: Elections; allow individuals to vote by
affidavit if they register after 30-day cut off
but before election day.
established by law for closing the polls on an election day, may 116
only vote by affidavit ballot. Any affidavit ballot cast under 117
this subsection shall be separated and kept apart from other 118
affidavit ballots cast by voters not affected by the order. 119
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 120
and after July 1, 2026. 121