Election commissioner; revise office of to be nonpartisan.

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To: Apportionment and
Elections
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Massengill

HOUSE BILL NO. 339

AN ACT TO PROVIDE THAT THE OFFICE OF ELECTION COMMISSIONER 1
SHALL BE A NONPARTISAN OFFICE; TO PROVIDE THAT THE NAMES OF 2
CANDIDATES FOR THE OFFICE OF ELECTION COMMISSIONER SHALL BE LISTED 3
AS NONPARTISAN ON A BALLOT; TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-213, 23-15-367 4
AND 23-15-511, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE 5
PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 6
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 7
SECTION 1. The office of election commissioner is a 8
nonpartisan office and a candidate for election to the office is 9
prohibited from campaigning or qualifying for the office based on 10
party affiliation. 11
SECTION 2. (1) The names of candidates for the office of 12
election commissioner which appear on the ballot at the general 13
election shall be grouped together on a separate portion of the 14
ballot and clearly identified as nonpartisan. 15
(2) The names of all candidates for the office of election 16
commissioner shall be listed in alphabetical order on any ballot, 17
and no reference to political party affiliation shall appear on 18
any ballot with respect to the nonpartisan office of election 19
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commissioner or the candidate for the nonpartisan office of 20
election commissioner. 21
SECTION 3. Section 23-15-213, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 22
amended as follows: 23
[Until December 31, 2027, this section shall read as 24
follows:] 25
23-15-213. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this 26
section, there shall be elected five (5) election commissioners 27
for each county whose terms of office shall commence on the first 28
Monday of January following their election and who shall serve for 29
a term of four (4) years. Each of the commissioners shall be 30
required to attend a training seminar provided by the Secretary of 31
State and satisfactorily complete a skills assessment, and before 32
acting, shall take and subscribe the oath of office prescribed by 33
the Constitution. The oath shall be filed in the office of the 34
clerk of the chancery court. Upon filing the oath of office, the 35
election commissioner may be provided access to the Statewide 36
Elections Management System for the purpose of performing his or 37
her duties. Such skills assessment shall only be required once 38
every four (4) years. While engaged in their duties, the 39
commissioners shall be conservators of the peace in the county, 40
with all the duties and powers of such. 41
(2) (a) At the general election in 2024 and every four (4) 42
years thereafter, the qualified electors of the board of 43
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supervisors' Districts One, Three and Five shall elect in their 44
district one (1) election commissioner. 45
(b) At the general election in 2027, the qualified 46
electors of the board of supervisors' Districts Two and Four shall 47
elect in their district one (1) election commissioner, who shall 48
serve for a term of three (3) years. 49
(c) No more than one (1) commissioner shall be a 50
resident of and reside in each supervisor's district of the 51
county; it being the purpose of this section that the county board 52
of election commissioners shall consist of one (1) person from 53
each supervisor's district of the county and that each 54
commissioner be elected from the supervisor's district in which he 55
or she resides. 56
(3) Candidates for county election commissioner shall 57
qualify by filing with the clerk of the board of supervisors of 58
their respective counties a petition personally signed by not less 59
than fifty (50) qualified electors of the supervisor's district in 60
which they reside, requesting that they be a candidate, by 5:00 61
p.m. not later than February 1 of the year in which the election 62
occurs and unless the petition is filed within the required time, 63
their names shall not be placed upon the ballot. * * * 64
(4) The petition shall have attached thereto a certificate 65
of the county registrar showing the number of qualified electors 66
on each petition, which shall be furnished by the registrar on 67
request. The board shall determine the sufficiency of the 68
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petition, and if the petition contains the required number of 69
signatures and is filed within the time required, the president of 70
the board shall verify that the candidate is a resident of the 71
supervisor's district in which he or she seeks election and that 72
the candidate is otherwise qualified as provided by law, and shall 73
certify that the candidate is qualified to the chair or secretary 74
of the county election commission and the names of the candidates 75
shall be placed upon the ballot for the ensuing election. No 76
county election commissioner shall serve or be considered as 77
elected until he or she has received a majority of the votes cast 78
for the position or post for which he or she is a candidate. If a 79
majority vote is not received in the first election, then the two 80
(2) candidates receiving the most votes for each position or post 81
shall be placed upon the ballot for a second election to be held 82
four (4) weeks later in accordance with appropriate procedures 83
followed in other elections involving runoff candidates. 84
(5) In the first meeting in January of each year, the county 85
election commissioners shall organize by electing a chair and a 86
secretary, who shall serve a one-year term. The county election 87
commissioners shall provide the names of the chair and secretary 88
to the Secretary of State and provide notice of any change in 89
officers which may occur during the year. 90
(6) It shall be the duty of the chair to have the official 91
ballot printed and distributed at each general or special 92
election. 93
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[From and after January 1, 2028, this section shall read as 94
follows:] 95
23-15-213. (1) There shall be elected five (5) election 96
commissioners for each county whose terms of office shall commence 97
on the first Monday of January following their election and who 98
shall serve for a term of four (4) years. Each of the 99
commissioners shall be required to attend a training seminar 100
provided by the Secretary of State and satisfactorily complete a 101
skills assessment, and before acting, shall take and subscribe the 102
oath of office prescribed by the Constitution. The oath shall be 103
filed in the office of the clerk of the chancery court. Upon 104
filing the oath of office, the election commissioner may be 105
provided access to the Statewide Elections Management System for 106
the purpose of performing his or her duties. Such skills 107
assessment shall only be required once every four (4) years. 108
While engaged in their duties, the commissioners shall be 109
conservators of the peace in the county, with all the duties and 110
powers of such. 111
(2) (a) At the general election in 2028 and every four (4) 112
years thereafter, the qualified electors of the board of 113
supervisors' Districts One, Three and Five shall elect in their 114
district one (1) election commissioner. 115
(b) At the general election in 2030 and every four (4) 116
years thereafter, the qualified electors of the board of 117
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supervisors' Districts Two and Four shall elect in their district 118
one (1) election commissioner. 119
(c) No more than one (1) commissioner shall be a 120
resident of and reside in each supervisor's district of the 121
county; it being the purpose of this section that the county board 122
of election commissioners shall consist of one (1) person from 123
each supervisor's district of the county and that each 124
commissioner be elected from the supervisor's district in which he 125
or she resides. 126
(3) Candidates for county election commissioner shall 127
qualify by filing with the clerk of the board of supervisors of 128
their respective counties a petition personally signed by not less 129
than fifty (50) qualified electors of the supervisor's district in 130
which they reside, requesting that they be a candidate, by 5:00 131
p.m. not later than February 1 of the year in which the election 132
occurs and unless the petition is filed within the required time, 133
their names shall not be placed upon the ballot. * * * 134
(4) The petition shall have attached thereto a certificate 135
of the county registrar showing the number of qualified electors 136
on each petition, which shall be furnished by the registrar on 137
request. The board shall determine the sufficiency of the 138
petition, and if the petition contains the required number of 139
signatures and is filed within the time required, the president of 140
the board shall verify that the candidate is a resident of the 141
supervisor's district in which he or she seeks election and that 142
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the candidate is otherwise qualified as provided by law, and shall 143
certify that the candidate is qualified to the chair or secretary 144
of the county election commission and the names of the candidates 145
shall be placed upon the ballot for the ensuing election. No 146
county election commissioner shall serve or be considered as 147
elected until he or she has received a majority of the votes cast 148
for the position or post for which he or she is a candidate. If a 149
majority vote is not received in the first election, then the two 150
(2) candidates receiving the most votes for each position or post 151
shall be placed upon the ballot for a second election to be held 152
four (4) weeks later in accordance with appropriate procedures 153
followed in other elections involving runoff candidates. 154
(5) In the first meeting in January of each year, the county 155
election commissioners shall organize by electing a chair and a 156
secretary, who shall serve a one-year term. The county election 157
commissioners shall provide the names of the chair and secretary 158
to the Secretary of State and provide notice of any change in 159
officers which may occur during the year. 160
(6) It shall be the duty of the chair to have the official 161
ballot printed and distributed at each general or special 162
election. 163
SECTION 4. Section 23-15-367, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 164
amended as follows: 165
23-15-367. (1) Except as otherwise provided by Sections 166
23-15-974 through 23-15-985 * * *, subsection (2) of this section 167
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and the provisions of Sections 1 and 2 of this act, the size, 168
print and quality of paper of the official ballot is left to the 169
discretion of the officer charged with printing the official 170
ballot. 171
(2) The titles for the various offices shall be listed in 172
the following order: 173
(a) Candidates, electors or delegates for the following 174
national offices: 175
(i) President; 176
(ii) United States Senator or United States 177
Representative; 178
(b) Candidates for the following statewide office: 179
Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney 180
General, State Treasurer, Auditor of Public Accounts, Commissioner 181
of Agriculture and Commerce, Commissioner of Insurance; 182
(c) Candidates for the following state district 183
offices: Mississippi Transportation Commissioner, Public Service 184
Commissioner, District Attorney; 185
(d) Candidates for the following legislative offices: 186
Senate and House of Representatives; 187
(e) Candidates for countywide office; 188
(f) Candidates for county district office. 189
The order in which the titles for the various offices are 190
listed within paragraphs (e) and (f) is left to the discretion of 191
the county election commissioners. Nominees of the political 192
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parties, qualified to conduct primary elections as defined in 193
Section 23-15-291, shall be listed first alphabetically by the 194
candidate's last name, followed by any other candidates listed 195
alphabetically by last name. 196
(3) It is the duty of the Secretary of State, with the 197
approval of the Governor, to furnish the designated election 198
commissioner of each county a sample of the official ballot, not 199
less than fifty-five (55) days before the election, the general 200
form of which shall be followed as nearly as practicable. 201
SECTION 5. Section 23-15-511, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 202
amended as follows: 203
23-15-511. The ballots shall, as far as practicable, be in 204
the same order of arrangement as provided for paper ballots that 205
are to be counted manually, except that the information may be 206
printed in vertical or horizontal rows. Nothing in this chapter 207
shall * * * prohibit the information being presented to the voters 208
from being printed on both sides of a single ballot. In those 209
years when a special election * * * occurs on the same day as the 210
general election, the names of candidates in any special election 211
and the general election shall be placed on the same ballot by the 212
election commissioners or officials in charge of the election, but 213
the general election candidates shall be clearly distinguished 214
from the special election candidates. At any time a special 215
election is held on the same day as a party primary election, the 216
names of the candidates in the special election may be placed on 217
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the same ballot by the officials in charge of the election, but 218
shall be clearly distinguished as special election candidates or 219
primary election candidates. 220
Ballots shall be printed in plain clear type in black ink and 221
upon clear white materials of such size and arrangement as to be 222
compatible with the OMR equipment. Absentee ballots shall be 223
prepared and printed in the same form and shall be on the same 224
size and texture as the regular official ballots, except that they 225
shall be printed on tinted paper; or the ink used to print the 226
ballots shall be of a color different from that of the ink used to 227
print the regular official ballots. Arrows may be printed on the 228
ballot to indicate the place to mark the ballot, which may be to 229
the right or left of the names of candidates and propositions. 230
Except as otherwise provided in Sections 1 and 2 of this act, the 231
titles of offices may be arranged in vertical columns on the 232
ballot and shall be printed above or at the side of the names of 233
candidates so as to indicate clearly the candidates for each 234
office and the number to be elected. In case there are more 235
candidates for an office than can be printed in one (1) column, 236
the ballot shall be clearly marked that the list of candidates is 237
continued on the following column. Except as otherwise provided 238
in Sections 1 and 2 of this act, the names of candidates for each 239
office shall be printed in vertical columns, grouped by the 240
offices that they seek. In partisan elections, the party 241
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ST: Election commissioner; revise office of to
be nonpartisan.
designation of each candidate, which may be abbreviated, shall be 242
printed following his or her name. 243
One (1) sample ballot, which shall be a facsimile of the 244
official ballot and instructions to the voters, shall be provided 245
for each precinct and shall be posted in each polling place on 246
election day. 247
A separate ballot security envelope or suitable equivalent in 248
which the voter can place his or her ballot after voting, shall be 249
provided to conceal the choices the voter has made. Absentee 250
voters will receive a similar ballot security envelope provided by 251
the county in which the absentee voter will insert their voted 252
ballot, which then can be inserted into a return envelope to be 253
mailed back to the election official. Absentee ballots will not 254
be required to be folded when a ballot security envelope is 255
provided. 256
SECTION 6. Sections 1 and 2 of this act shall be codified as 257
new sections in Chapter 15, Title 23, Mississippi Code of 1972. 258
SECTION 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from 259
and after July 1, 2026. 260