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To: Apportionment and
Elections
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026
By: Representative Sanford
HOUSE BILL NO. 1241
AN ACT TO REQUIRE THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO DEVELOP A 1
CENTRALIZED, STATEWIDE ELECTION NIGHT REPORTING SYSTEM; TO REQUIRE 2
ELECTION OFFICIALS TO SUBMIT PERIODIC ELECTION NIGHT RESULTS; TO 3
REQUIRE REAL-TIME ELECTION RESULTS TO BE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC 4
THROUGH THE WEBSITE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE; TO BRING FORWARD 5
SECTIONS 23-15-597, 23-15-599, 23-15-601 AND 23-15-613, 6
MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND 7
FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 8
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 9
SECTION 1. (1) The Secretary of State shall develop and 10
maintain a centralized, statewide election night reporting system 11
to facilitate the collection and public accessibility of real-time 12
updates on election results. The system shall be designed to 13
receive periodic electronic reports of results from election 14
officials across the state, thereby enhancing transparency in the 15
electoral process. 16
(2) The Secretary of State shall promulgate rules and 17
regulations concerning period reporting on election night, which 18
rules and regulations shall require election officials to: 19
(a) Submit an initial report of election results no 20
later than one (1) hour after the polls close; 21
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(b) Submit additional election result reports after the 22
initial report no later than thirty (30) minutes after the 23
preceding report until such time that all votes have been 24
recorded; and 25
(c) Immediately notify the Secretary of State if it is 26
not possible for local election officials to comply with the time 27
requirements of this subsection. 28
(3) The chair of the board of election commissioners, or his 29
designee, shall be responsible for making timely reports to the 30
Secretary of State until such time that all votes have been 31
recorded. For this extra duty, the official or employee shall be 32
compensated, in addition to all other compensation to which the 33
individual is entitled, One Hundred Fifty Dollars ($150.00) per 34
election night. 35
(4) Data submitted through the election night reporting 36
system must be made available to the public instantaneously 37
through the website for the Secretary of State. The system must 38
be designed to update the election night results as each 39
additional report is submitted by the election officials and to 40
tabulate results for each office being decided in the election. 41
(5) The provisions of this section are not applicable to 42
municipal elections. 43
SECTION 2. Section 23-15-597, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 44
brought forward as follows: 45
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23-15-597. (1) The county executive committee shall meet 46
no later than one (1) week from the day following each primary 47
election to receive and canvass the returns that must be made 48
within the time fixed by law for returns of general elections and 49
declare the result, and announce the name of the nominees for 50
county and county district offices and the names of those 51
candidates to be submitted to the second primary. The vote for 52
state, state district offices and legislative offices shall be 53
tabulated by precincts and certified to and returned to the State 54
Executive Committee, such returns to be mailed by registered 55
letter or any safe mode of transmission within thirty-six (36) 56
hours after the returns are canvassed and the result ascertained. 57
The State Executive Committee shall meet one (1) week from the day 58
following the first primary election held for state, state 59
district offices and legislative offices, and shall proceed to 60
canvass the returns and to declare the result, and announce the 61
names of those nominated for the different offices in the first 62
primary and the names of those candidates whose names are to be 63
submitted to the second primary election. The State Executive 64
Committee shall also meet one (1) week from the day on which the 65
second primary election was held and receive and canvass the 66
returns for state and district offices, if any, and legislative 67
offices, if any, voted on in the second primary. An exact and 68
full duplicate of all tabulations by precincts as certified under 69
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this section shall be filed with the circuit clerk of the county 70
who shall safely preserve the same in his or her office. 71
(2) (a) If it is eligible under Section 23-15-266, the 72
county executive committee may enter into a written agreement with 73
the circuit clerk or the county election commission authorizing 74
the circuit clerk or the county election commission to perform any 75
of the duties required of the county executive committee pursuant 76
to this section. Any agreement entered into pursuant to this 77
subsection shall be signed by the chair of the county executive 78
committee and the circuit clerk or the chair of the county 79
election commission, as appropriate. The county executive 80
committee shall notify the State Executive Committee and the 81
Secretary of State of the existence of the agreement. 82
(b) If it is eligible under Section 23-15-266, the 83
municipal executive committee may enter into a written agreement 84
with the municipal clerk or the municipal election commission 85
authorizing the municipal clerk or the municipal election 86
commission to perform any of the duties required of the municipal 87
executive committee pursuant to this section. Any agreement 88
entered into pursuant to this subsection shall be signed by the 89
chair of the municipal executive committee and the municipal clerk 90
or the chair of the municipal election commission, as appropriate. 91
The municipal executive committee shall notify the State Executive 92
Committee and the Secretary of State of the existence of the 93
agreement. 94
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SECTION 3. Section 23-15-599, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 95
brought forward as follows: 96
23-15-599. (1) (a) Within ten (10) days after the first 97
primary election and within ten (10) days after the second primary 98
election, if any, the chairman of the state executive committee 99
shall transmit to the Secretary of State a tabulated statement of 100
the party vote cast in each county and precinct in each county in 101
each state and state district election, and each legislative 102
election for districts consisting of more than one (1) county or 103
parts of more than one (1) county. The statement shall be 104
transmitted by the state executive committee on such forms and by 105
such methods as may be required by rules and regulations 106
promulgated by the Secretary of State. The statement shall be 107
filed by the Secretary of State and preserved among the records of 108
his office. 109
(b) The statement provided for in paragraph (a) of this 110
subsection shall contain a certification signed and dated by the 111
chairman of the state executive committee, which shall read as 112
follows: 113
"I _______________, Chairman of the _________ Party 114
State Executive Committee, do hereby certify that, on a 115
majority vote of the ________ Party State Executive 116
Committee, these vote totals for each county and for each 117
candidate are the official vote totals for the election 118
reflected therein." 119
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(2) (a) Within ten (10) days after the first primary 120
election and within ten (10) days after the second primary 121
election, if any, the county executive committee shall transmit to 122
the Secretary of State a tabulated statement of the party vote 123
cast in their county and each precinct in their county in each 124
election for county and county district office and each election 125
for legislative office for districts containing one (1) county or 126
less. The statement shall be transmitted by the county executive 127
committee on such forms and by such methods as may be required by 128
rules and regulations promulgated by the Secretary of State. The 129
statement shall be filed by the Secretary of State and preserved 130
among the records of his office. 131
(b) The statement provided for in paragraph (a) of this 132
subsection shall contain a certification signed and dated by the 133
majority of the members of the county executive committee, which 134
shall read as follows: 135
"We, the undersigned members of the county executive 136
committee, do hereby certify that these vote totals for each 137
candidate are the official vote totals for the election 138
reflected therein." 139
SECTION 4. Section 23-15-601, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 140
brought forward as follows: 141
23-15-601. (1) When the result of the election shall have 142
been ascertained by the poll managers they, or one (1) of their 143
number, or some fit person designated by them, shall, on the night 144
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of the election, deliver to the election commissioners, at the 145
courthouse, a statement of the whole number of votes given for 146
each person and for what office; and the election commissioners 147
shall canvass the returns, ascertain and declare the result, and, 148
within ten (10) days after the day of the election, shall deliver 149
a certificate of the election to the person having the greatest 150
number of votes for representative in the Legislature of districts 151
composed of one (1) county or less. If it appears that two (2) or 152
more candidates for Representative of the county, or part of the 153
county standing highest on the list, and not elected, have an 154
equal number of votes, the interested candidates shall appear 155
before the election commissioners within two (2) days after the 156
canvass and the tie shall be determined by a toss of a coin or by 157
lot fairly and publicly drawn, and a certificate of election shall 158
be given accordingly. The foregoing provisions shall apply to 159
Senators, if the county be a senatorial district. 160
(2) The election commissioners shall transmit to the 161
Secretary of State, on such forms and by such methods as may be 162
required by rules and regulations promulgated by the Secretary of 163
State, a statement of the total number of votes cast in the county 164
for each candidate for each office and the total number of votes 165
cast for such candidates in each precinct in the district in which 166
the candidate ran. 167
SECTION 5. Section 23-15-613, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 168
brought forward as follows: 169
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23-15-613. (1) As used in this section "residual votes" 170
means overvotes, undervotes and any other vote not counted for any 171
reason. 172
(2) For every election, election commissions and county and 173
municipal executive committees shall report to the Secretary of 174
State residual vote information; however, if the voting devices 175
utilized in the election do not produce a ballot, other 176
information shall be reported as required in this section. 177
(3) For every election, election commissions and county and 178
municipal executive committees responsible for the conduct of 179
elections in which ballots are generated that are counted by hand 180
or by OMR equipment or the tabulating mechanism of a DRE unit 181
shall report to the Secretary of State all residual votes for all 182
candidates and ballot measures in the elections for which they are 183
responsible for conducting. The residual vote reports shall: 184
(a) Be received by the Secretary of State no later than 185
December 15 of the year in which the election is held; 186
(b) Include any suggested explanation or suspected 187
cause of the residual votes; 188
(c) Include a copy of a voided official ballot for the 189
election as such ballot appeared to voters at the election and 190
copies of voided affidavit and absentee ballots if they are 191
different from the official ballot; 192
(d) Include the total voter turnout for each election 193
to be determined by totaling the number of persons signing the 194
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receipt book at each precinct, absentee voters and persons who 195
voted by affidavit ballot and persons whose ballots were 196
challenged and rejected; and 197
(e) Include a copy of any printed voting instructions 198
given or visible to voters in the election and a description of 199
any verbal instructions and any other evidence of voter education 200
that was used in the election. 201
(4) For every election, election commissions and county and 202
municipal executive committees responsible for the conduct of 203
election in which voting devices are used that do not generate 204
ballots that are counted by hand or by OMR equipment or the 205
tabulating mechanism of a DRE unit, shall file a report with the 206
Secretary of State which shall: 207
(a) Be received by the Secretary of State no later than 208
December 15 of the year in which the election is held; 209
(b) Include the total voter turnout for each election 210
to be determined by totaling the number of persons signing the 211
receipt book at each precinct, absentee voters and persons who 212
voted by affidavit ballot and persons whose ballots were 213
challenged and rejected; 214
(c) Include in the report any anecdotal information 215
obtained concerning voter problems with the voting equipment or 216
ballot layout; 217
(d) Include in the report any suggested explanation or 218
suspected cause of any difference in the amount of total voter 219
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turnout and the number of counted votes for candidates for various 220
offices; and 221
(e) Include a copy of any printed voting instructions 222
given or visible to voters in the election and a description of 223
any verbal instructions and any other evidence of voter education 224
that was used in the election. 225
(5) Not later than January 31 of the year following the 226
election, the Secretary of State shall submit a report to the 227
Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House of 228
Representatives analyzing the reports required to be filed 229
pursuant to this section. The analysis shall include the 230
following: 231
(a) The performance of each voting device type used in 232
the election; 233
(b) Any problems with voter or poll worker instructions 234
or ballot design and layout that have been identified as a result 235
of analyzing the reports received; 236
(c) Recommendations for reducing the number of residual 237
votes reported; and 238
(d) Such other information as the Secretary of State 239
deems beneficial. 240
(6) The reports required pursuant to this section shall be 241
in such form as may be required by rules and regulations 242
promulgated by the Secretary of State. 243
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ST: Election results; require Secretary of
State to develop centralized, statewide election
night reporting system.
SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from 244
and after July 1, 2026, and shall stand repealed on June 30, 2026. 245