Post-election audits; require Secretary of State to publish reports on website.

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To: Apportionment and
Elections
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representatives Remak, Hurst

HOUSE BILL NO. 1166

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-615, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO REQUIRE THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO PUBLISH THE GENERAL ELECTION 2
POST-ELECTION AUDIT REPORTS ON ITS WEBSITE; AND FOR RELATED 3
PURPOSES. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 5
SECTION 1. Section 23-15-615, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 6
amended as follows: 7
23-15-615. The Secretary of State shall be authorized to 8
audit election procedures of the 2023, 2024, 2026 and 2027 general 9
elections in the counties of this state. The conduction of an 10
audit shall not create excessive interference with the general 11
duties and responsibilities of the Secretary of State, county 12
registrar, and county election commission. 13
(a) The Secretary of State shall audit all eighty-two 14
(82) counties by randomly selecting from each of the congressional 15
districts during the 2023, 2024, 2026 and 2027 general elections, 16
and randomly selecting no more than twenty-five percent (25%) of 17
the total precincts or no more than five (5) precincts, whichever 18
is less in each county. No county or precinct shall be selected 19
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for audit on the basis of race, geographical location or voting 20
trends. 21
(i) If the Secretary of State finds any issues 22
that could affect the outcome of an election or cause voters to be 23
disenfranchised, then the Secretary of State, in partnership with 24
the local county election officials, shall develop a plan to 25
correct those issues, which shall include additional training. 26
(ii) The Secretary of State will have the 27
discretion to randomly select the counties and precincts that will 28
be audited, but must do so at least ninety (90) days before the 29
election to be audited. No audit shall occur if the election is 30
challenged as provided in Sections 23-15-927, 23-15-951 or 31
23-15-955. No audit shall occur until after a ballot box 32
examination has occurred and the period to contest an election has 33
expired, or if a runoff election occurs, the audit shall occur 34
after the runoff election. 35
(b) In conducting a procedural audit, the Secretary of 36
State shall audit the following: 37
(i) Procedures for testing of OMR equipment before 38
counting ballots, including the ballots used for testing of OMR 39
equipment, as required by Section 23-15-521; 40
(ii) Ballot accounting reports, seal logs, poll 41
books, and receipt books as required to be kept by Section 42
23-15-519; 43
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(iii) Absentee ballots, absentee ballot 44
applications, and absentee ballot envelopes, along with the list 45
provided to the resolution board, to ensure appropriate processing 46
and counting of absentee ballots as required by Section 23-15-631 47
et seq.; and 48
(iv) Affidavit ballots and affidavit ballot 49
envelopes, including affidavit ballot receipt book to ensure 50
compliance with appropriate processing and counting of affidavit 51
ballots as required by Section 23-15-573. 52
(c) By January 20, 2027, the Secretary of State shall 53
provide a recommendation to the Mississippi Legislature on whether 54
the procedures to be audited in paragraph (b) should be expanded 55
or reduced. 56
(d) The Secretary of State shall develop a 57
post-election audit manual which shall detail the policies and 58
procedures for conducting post-election audits. The post-election 59
audit manual shall not be altered less than ninety (90) days 60
before an election in which the post-election audit manual shall 61
be utilized in conducting a post-election audit. 62
(e) No later than one hundred twenty (120) days after 63
the election that the Secretary of State is auditing, the 64
Secretary of State shall compile a report of the procedural audits 65
conducted * * * pursuant to this section. The report shall be 66
submitted to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the 67
House of Representatives and Chairmen of the Senate and House 68
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ST: Post-election audits; require Secretary of
State to publish reports on website.
Election Committees and published on the Secretary of State 69
website. Prior to submitting the report and publishing it on the 70
website, the Secretary of State shall allow the local county 71
election officials to review the report and provide comments that 72
will be submitted along with the report. The report shall first 73
list all counties audited alphabetically with any major finding 74
which may affect the outcome of the election and whether any 75
voters were disenfranchised, then list out a detailed report of 76
any major or minor findings, along with recommended changes to 77
both county and Secretary of State practices. 78
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 79
and after July 1, 2026. 80