Municipal executive committee; prohibit members of from campaigning for candidates on the municipal primary election ballot.

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To: Apportionment and
Elections
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Scott

HOUSE BILL NO. 24

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-171, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO PROVIDE THAT A MUNICIPAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER OR PRIMARY 2
ELECTION OFFICIAL APPOINTED BY THE MUNICIPAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 3
MAY NOT CAMPAIGN FOR A CANDIDATE WHOSE NAME IS LISTED ON THE 4
MUNICIPAL PRIMARY ELECTION BALLOT; TO PROVIDE THAT A MUNICIPAL 5
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBER WHO IS CONVICTED OF CAMPAIGNING FOR A 6
CANDIDATE ON THE MUNICIPAL PRIMARY ELECTION BALLOT IS GUILTY OF A 7
MISDEMEANOR AND MUST BE REMOVED FROM HIS OR HER PRIMARY ELECTION 8
POSITION; TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-313 AND 25-1-115, MISSISSIPPI 9
CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE PRECEDING SECTION; TO BRING 10
FORWARD SECTION 23-15-309, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR THE 11
PURPOSE OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 12
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 13
SECTION 1. Section 23-15-171, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 14
amended as follows: 15
23-15-171. (1) Municipal primary elections shall be held on 16
the first Tuesday in April preceding the general municipal 17
election and, in the event a second primary shall be necessary, 18
such second primary shall be held on the fourth Tuesday in April 19
preceding such general municipal election. The candidate 20
receiving a majority of the votes cast in the election shall be 21
the party nominee. If no candidate shall receive a majority vote 22
at the election, the two (2) candidates receiving the highest 23
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number of votes shall have their names placed on the ballot for 24
the second primary election. The candidate receiving the most 25
votes cast in the second primary election shall be the party 26
nominee. However, if no candidate shall receive a majority vote 27
at the first primary, and there is a tie in the election of those 28
receiving the next highest vote, those candidates receiving the 29
next highest vote and the candidate receiving the highest vote 30
shall have their names placed on the ballot for the second primary 31
election, and whoever receives the most votes cast in the second 32
primary election shall be the party nominee. 33
(2) * * * (a) Each municipal executive committee shall have 34
as many members as there are elective officers of the 35
municipality, and the members of the municipal executive committee 36
of each political party shall be elected in the primary elections 37
held for the nomination of candidates for municipal offices. The 38
provisions of this section shall govern all municipal primary 39
elections as far as applicable, but the officers to prepare the 40
ballots and the poll managers and other officials of the primary 41
election shall be appointed by the municipal executive committee 42
of the party holding the primary, and the returns of such election 43
shall be made to such municipal executive committee. Vacancies in 44
the executive committee shall be filled by it. 45
(b) A municipal executive committee member or primary 46
election official appointed by the municipal executive committee 47
may not campaign for, engage in fundraising for, make any 48
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contribution to, endorse, or in any other way support a candidate 49
whose name is listed on the municipal primary election ballot. A 50
person who violates this paragraph is guilty of a misdemeanor and, 51
upon conviction, must be punished as provided in Section 99-19-31 52
and removed from his or her primary election position. 53
( * * *3) * * * In municipalities operating under a special 54
or private charter which fixes a time for holding elections, other 55
than the time fixed by Chapter 491, Laws of 1950, the first 56
primary election shall be held on the first Tuesday, two (2) 57
months before the time for holding the general election, as fixed 58
by the charter, and the second primary election, where necessary, 59
shall be held three (3) weeks after the first primary election, 60
unless the charter of any such municipality provides otherwise, in 61
which event the provisions of the special or private charter shall 62
prevail as to the time of holding such primary elections. 63
( * * *4) At the primary election the municipal executive 64
committee shall perform the same duties as are specified by law 65
and performed by members of the county executive committee with 66
regard to state and county primary elections. All primary 67
elections in municipalities shall be held and conducted in the 68
same manner as is provided by law for state and county primary 69
elections. 70
SECTION 2. Section 23-15-313, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 71
amended as follows: 72
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23-15-313. (1) If there * * * is any political party, or 73
parties, in any municipality which shall not have a party 74
executive committee for such municipality, such political party, 75
or parties, shall, within thirty (30) days of the date for which a 76
candidate for a municipal office is required to qualify in that 77
municipality, select qualified electors of that municipality and 78
of that party's political faith to serve on a temporary municipal 79
executive committee until members of a municipal executive 80
committee are elected at the next regular election for executive 81
committees. The temporary municipal executive committee shall be 82
selected in the following manner: The chairman of the county 83
executive committee of the party desiring to select a temporary 84
municipal executive committee shall call, upon petition of five 85
(5) or more members of that political faith, a mass meeting of the 86
qualified electors of their political faith who reside in such 87
municipality to meet at some convenient place within such 88
municipality, at a time to be designated in the call, and at such 89
mass convention the members of that political faith shall select a 90
temporary municipal executive committee which shall serve until 91
members of a municipal executive committee are elected at the next 92
regular election for executive committees. The public shall be 93
given notice of such mass meeting as provided in Section 94
23-15-315. The chairman of the county executive committee shall 95
authorize the call within five (5) calendar days of receipt of the 96
petition. If the chairman of the county executive committee is 97
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either incapacitated, unavailable or nonresponsive and does not 98
authorize the mass call within five (5) calendar days of receipt 99
of the petition, any elected officer of the county executive 100
committee may authorize the call within five (5) calendar days. 101
If no elected officer of the county executive committee acts to 102
approve such petition after an additional five (5) calendar days 103
from the date, the chair of the county executive committee not 104
taking action as provided by this section, the petitioners shall 105
be authorized to produce the call themselves. 106
(2) If no municipal executive committee is selected or 107
otherwise formed before an election, the county executive 108
committee may serve as the temporary municipal executive committee 109
and exercise all of the duties of the municipal executive 110
committee for the municipal election. After a county executive 111
committee has fulfilled its duties as the temporary municipal 112
executive committee, as soon as practicable thereafter, the county 113
executive committee shall select a municipal executive committee 114
no later than before the next municipal election. 115
(3) A person who has been convicted of a felony in a court 116
of this state or any other state or a court of the United States, 117
shall be barred from serving as a member of a municipal executive 118
committee. 119
(4) A temporary municipal executive committee member may not 120
campaign for, engage in fundraising for, make any contribution to, 121
endorse, or in any other way support a candidate whose name is 122
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listed on the municipal primary election ballot. A person who 123
violates this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon 124
conviction, must be punished as provided in Section 99-19-31 and 125
removed from his or her primary election position. 126
SECTION 3. Section 25-1-115, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 127
amended as follows: 128
25-1-115. (1) No person shall serve on any temporary 129
municipal executive committee, municipal executive committee, 130
temporary county executive committee, county executive committee 131
or state executive committee if the person has been convicted of 132
any criminal violation of the Mississippi Election Code, has been 133
convicted of an election crime in this state or any other state, 134
has been convicted of any felony in this state or any other state, 135
has been convicted of an election crime under federal law, has 136
been removed from public office pursuant to Section 25-5-1, or who 137
has resigned from office as part of a plea agreement. 138
(2) A municipal executive committee member or primary 139
election official appointed by the municipal executive committee 140
may not campaign for, engage in fundraising for, make any 141
contribution to, endorse, or in any other way support a candidate 142
whose name is listed on the municipal primary election ballot. 143
( * * *3) Any person who violates this section shall be 144
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished as 145
provided in Section 99-19-31 and removed from the committee. 146
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SECTION 4. Section 23-15-309, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 147
brought forward as follows: 148
23-15-309. (1) Nominations for all municipal officers which 149
are elective shall be made at a primary election, or elections, to 150
be held in the manner prescribed by law. All persons desiring to 151
be candidates for the nomination in the primary elections shall 152
first pay Ten Dollars ($10.00) to the clerk of the municipality, 153
at least sixty (60) days before the first primary election, no 154
later than 5:00 p.m. on such deadline day. If the sixtieth day to 155
file the fee and written statement before an election falls on a 156
Sunday or legal holiday, the fees and written statements submitted 157
on the business day immediately following the Sunday or legal 158
holiday shall be accepted. 159
(2) The fee paid pursuant to subsection (1) of this section 160
shall be accompanied by a written statement containing the name 161
and address of the candidate, the party with which he or she is 162
affiliated, the email address of the candidate, if any, and the 163
office for which he or she is a candidate. 164
(3) The clerk shall promptly receipt the payment, stating 165
the office for which the person making the payment is running and 166
the political party with which such person is affiliated. The 167
clerk shall keep an itemized account in detail showing the time 168
and date of the receipt of such payment received by him or her, 169
from whom such payment was received, the party with which such 170
person is affiliated and for what office the person paying the fee 171
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is a candidate. No candidate may attempt to qualify with any 172
political party that does not have a duly organized municipal 173
executive committee, and the municipal clerk shall not accept any 174
assessments made pursuant to subsection (1) if the municipal clerk 175
does not have contact information for the secretary of the 176
municipal executive committee for that political party. The clerk 177
shall promptly supply all necessary information and pay over all 178
fees so received to the secretary of the proper municipal 179
executive committee. The funds may be used and disbursed in the 180
same manner as is allowed in Section 23-15-299 in regard to other 181
executive committees. 182
(4) Upon receipt of the above information, the proper 183
municipal executive committee shall then determine, at the time of 184
the qualifying deadline, whether each candidate is a qualified 185
elector of the municipality, and of the ward if the office sought 186
is a ward office, shall determine whether each candidate either 187
meets all other qualifications to hold the office he or she is 188
seeking or presents absolute proof that he or she will, subject to 189
no contingencies, meet all qualifications on or before the date of 190
the general or special election at which he or she could be 191
elected to office. The executive committee shall determine 192
whether the candidate has taken the steps necessary to qualify for 193
more than one (1) office at the election. The committee also 194
shall determine whether any candidate has been convicted of any 195
felony in a court of this state, or has been convicted on or after 196
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December 8, 1992, of any offense in another state which is a 197
felony under the laws of this state, or has been convicted of any 198
felony in a federal court on or after December 8, 1992. Excepted 199
from the above are convictions of manslaughter and violations of 200
the United States Internal Revenue Code or any violations of the 201
tax laws of this state unless such offense also involved misuse or 202
abuse of his or her office or money coming into his or her hands 203
by virtue of the office. If the proper municipal executive 204
committee finds that a candidate either (a) does not meet all 205
qualifications to hold the office he or she seeks and fails to 206
provide absolute proof, subject to no contingencies, that he or 207
she will meet the qualifications on or before the date of the 208
general or special election at which he or she could be elected, 209
or (b) has been convicted of a felony as described in this 210
subsection and not pardoned, then the executive committee shall 211
notify the candidate and give the candidate an opportunity to be 212
heard. The executive committee shall mail notice to the candidate 213
at least three (3) business days before the hearing to the address 214
provided by the candidate on the qualifying forms, and the 215
committee shall attempt to contact the candidate by telephone, 216
email and facsimile if the candidate provided this information on 217
the forms. If the candidate fails to appear at the hearing or to 218
prove he or she meets all qualifications to hold the office 219
subject to no contingencies, then the name of such candidate shall 220
not be placed upon the ballot. If the executive committee 221
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ST: Municipal executive committee; prohibit
members of from campaigning for candidates on
the municipal primary election ballot.
determines that the candidate has taken the steps necessary to 222
qualify for more than one (1) office at the election, the action 223
required by Section 23-15-905, shall be taken. 224
(5) Where there is but one (1) candidate, the proper 225
municipal executive committee when the time has expired within 226
which the names of candidates shall be furnished shall declare 227
such candidate the nominee. 228
SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from 229
and after July 1, 2026. 230