Blank space on ballots; remove and provide supplementary ballot if a candidate is removed from race after ballots are printed.

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To: Apportionment and
Elections
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Scott

HOUSE BILL NO. 34

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-365, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO REMOVE THE BLANK SPACE FOR A WRITE-IN CANDIDATE AND PROVIDE 2
THAT A SUPPLEMENTARY BALLOT MUST BE PRINTED AND USED IN THE EVENT 3
A CANDIDATE DIES, RESIGNS, WITHDRAWS OR IS REMOVED AFTER THE 4
BALLOTS HAVE BEEN PRINTED BUT BEFORE AN ELECTION; TO AMEND 5
SECTIONS 23-15-333, 23-15-523 AND 23-15-551, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 6
1972, TO CONFORM TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED 7
PURPOSES. 8
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 9
SECTION 1. Section 23-15-365, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 10
amended as follows: 11
23-15-365. (1) * * * In primary, general and special 12
elections, * * * in the event of the death, resignation, 13
withdrawal or removal of any candidate whose name was printed on 14
the official ballot, a supplementary ballot may be printed for 15
that race and the name of the candidate duly substituted in the 16
place of such candidate who is qualified to hold the office * * * 17
must be printed on the supplementary ballot with the name of the 18
other candidates in that particular race. The supplementary 19
ballot must only contain the race in which a candidate has been 20
substituted for another candidate after the ballots were printed. 21
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Supplementary ballots must be formatted and printed in the same 22
manner that regular election day ballots are printed and must be 23
provided to voters in the same way regular ballots are provided to 24
voters. Any voter who votes absentee before the supplementary 25
ballot has been printed must be notified that a supplementary 26
ballot exists and given the option to return to the circuit 27
clerk's office to vote the supplementary ballot or have the 28
supplementary ballot mailed to him or her. Only those voters who 29
are qualified to vote absentee by mail may be mailed a 30
supplementary ballot. 31
* * * 32
(2) The provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall 33
not apply to elections conducted under the Nonpartisan Judicial 34
Election Act. 35
SECTION 2. Section 23-15-333, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 36
amended as follows: 37
23-15-333. (1) The county executive committee shall have 38
printed all necessary ballots, for use in primary elections. The 39
county executive committee shall have printed all necessary 40
absentee ballots forty-five (45) days before the election as 41
required by law. The ballots shall contain the names of all the 42
candidates to be voted for at the election * * *. In the event of 43
the death of any candidate whose name shall have been printed on 44
the ballot, a supplementary ballot must be printed, and the name 45
of the candidate duly substituted in the place of the deceased 46
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candidate * * *, as well as the other candidates in the race, must 47
be printed on the supplementary ballot. Except as otherwise 48
provided in subsection (2) of this section, the order in which the 49
titles to the various offices shall be printed, and the size, 50
print and quality of the paper of the ballot is left to the 51
discretion of the county executive committee. Provided, however, 52
that in all cases the arrangement of the names of the candidates 53
for each office shall be alphabetical. No ballot shall be used 54
except those so printed. 55
(2) The titles for the various offices shall be listed in 56
the following order: 57
(a) Candidates, electors or delegates for the following 58
national offices: 59
(i) President of the United States of America; 60
(ii) United States Senator or United States 61
Representative; 62
(b) Candidates for the following statewide offices: 63
Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney 64
General, State Treasurer, Auditor of Public Accounts, Commissioner 65
of Agriculture and Commerce, Commissioner of Insurance; 66
(c) Candidates for the following state district 67
offices: Mississippi Transportation Commissioner, Public Service 68
Commissioner, District Attorney; 69
(d) Candidates for the following legislative offices: 70
Senator and House of Representatives; 71
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(e) Candidates for countywide office; 72
(f) Candidates for county district office. 73
The order in which the titles for the various offices are 74
listed within each of the categories listed in paragraphs (e) and 75
(f) are left to the discretion of the county executive committee. 76
Candidates' names shall be listed alphabetically under each office 77
by the candidate's last name. 78
(3) If after the deadline to qualify as a candidate for an 79
office, only one (1) person has duly qualified to be a candidate 80
for the office in the primary election, the name of that person 81
shall be placed on the ballot; provided, however, that if not more 82
than one (1) person has duly qualified to be a candidate for each 83
office on the primary election ballot, the election for all 84
offices on the ballot shall be dispensed with and the appropriate 85
executive committee shall declare each candidate as the party 86
nominee if the candidate meets all the qualifications to hold the 87
office. 88
(4) (a) If it is eligible under Section 23-15-266, the 89
county executive committee may enter into a written agreement with 90
the circuit clerk or the county election commission authorizing 91
the circuit clerk or the county election commission to perform any 92
of the duties required of the county executive committee pursuant 93
to this section. Any agreement entered into pursuant to this 94
subsection shall be signed by the chair of the county executive 95
committee and the circuit clerk or the chair of the county 96
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election commission, as appropriate. The county executive 97
committee shall notify the state executive committee and the 98
Secretary of State of the existence of such agreement. 99
(b) If it is eligible under Section 23-15-266, the 100
municipal executive committee may enter into a written agreement 101
with the municipal clerk or the municipal election commission 102
authorizing the municipal clerk or the municipal election 103
commission to perform any of the duties required of the municipal 104
executive committee pursuant to this section. Any agreement 105
entered into pursuant to this subsection shall be signed by the 106
chair of the municipal executive committee and the municipal clerk 107
or the chair of the municipal election commission, as appropriate. 108
The municipal executive committee shall notify the state executive 109
committee and the Secretary of State of the existence of such 110
agreement. 111
SECTION 3. Section 23-15-523, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 112
amended as follows: 113
23-15-523. (1) All proceedings at the counting center shall 114
be under the direction of the election commissioners or officials 115
in charge of the election, and shall be conducted under the 116
observations of the public, but no persons except those authorized 117
for the purpose shall touch any ballot. All persons who are 118
engaged in processing and counting of the ballots shall take the 119
oath provided in Section 268, Mississippi Constitution of 1890. 120
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(2) The election commissioners or the officials in charge of 121
the election shall appoint qualified electors who have received 122
the training required by subsection (11) of this section to serve 123
as members of the "resolution board." An odd number of not less 124
than three (3) members shall be appointed to the resolution board. 125
The members of the board shall take the oath provided in Section 126
268, Mississippi Constitution of 1890. All ballots that have been 127
rejected by the OMR equipment and that are damaged or defective, 128
blank or overvoted will be reviewed by the board. Election 129
commissioners, candidates who are on the ballot and the spouse, 130
parents, siblings or children of such a candidate shall not be 131
appointed to the resolution board. In general and special 132
elections, members of the party executive committees shall not be 133
appointed to the resolution board unless members of all of the 134
party executive committees who have a candidate on the ballot are 135
appointed to the resolution board. 136
(3) (a) If any ballot is damaged or defective so that it 137
cannot be properly counted by the OMR equipment, the ballot will 138
be deposited in an envelope provided for that purpose marked 139
"RESOLUTION BOARD." All such ballots shall be carefully handled 140
so as to avoid altering, removing or adding any mark on the 141
ballot. 142
(b) The election commissioners or the officials in 143
charge of the election shall have the members of the resolution 144
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board ascertain the intent of the voter, if possible, and, if so, 145
manually count any damaged or defective ballots. 146
(c) The resolution board shall prepare a duplicate to 147
the damaged or defective ballot in the following manner: 148
(i) The resolution board shall prepare a duplicate 149
to the original damaged or defective ballot marked identically to 150
the original. 151
(ii) The resolution board shall mark the first 152
original they examine as "Original #1" and the duplicate of this 153
original as "Duplicate #1." Later originals and duplicates shall 154
be likewise marked and numbered consecutively so the duplicate of 155
each original can be identified. Duplicate ballots shall be 156
stamped in a different manner from the original ballots so that 157
they may be easily distinguished from the originals. 158
(iii) The duplicate ballots prepared pursuant to 159
this paragraph shall be counted by the OMR equipment. 160
(4) The resolution board shall examine ballots that have 161
been rejected by the OMR equipment for appearing to be "blank" to 162
verify if they are blank or were marked with a "nondetectable" 163
marking device. If it is determined that the ballot was marked 164
with a nondetectable device, the resolution board shall prepare a 165
duplicate to the original blank ballot in the same manner and in 166
accordance with the same process provided in subsection (3)(c). 167
(5) All ballots that are rejected by the OMR equipment and 168
that contain overvotes shall be inspected by the resolution board. 169
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Regarding those rejected ballots upon which an overvote appears, 170
if the voter intent cannot be determined by the resolution board, 171
the officials in charge of the election may use the OMR equipment 172
in determining the vote in the races that are unaffected by the 173
overvote. All other ballots that are overvoted shall be counted 174
manually following the provisions of this section at the direction 175
of the officials in charge of the election. The return printed by 176
the OMR equipment to which have been added the manually tallied 177
ballots, which shall be duly certified by the officials in charge 178
of the election, shall constitute the official return of each 179
voting precinct. Unofficial and incomplete returns may be 180
released during the count. Upon the completion of the counting, 181
the official returns shall be open to the public. 182
(6) When the resolution board reviews any OMR ballot in 183
which the voter has failed to fill in the arrow, oval, circle or 184
square for a candidate or a ballot measure, the resolution board 185
shall, if the intent of the voter can be ascertained, count the 186
vote if: 187
(a) The voter marks the ballot with a "cross" (X) or 188
"checkmark" (√) and the lines that form the mark intersect within 189
or on the line of the arrow, oval, circle or square by the ballot 190
measure or the name of the candidate. 191
(b) The voter blackens the arrow, oval, circle or 192
square adjacent to the ballot measure or the name of the candidate 193
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in pencil or ink and the blackened portion extends beyond the 194
boundaries of the arrow, oval, circle or square. 195
(c) The voter marks the ballot with a "cross" (X) or 196
"checkmark" (√) and the lines that form the mark intersect 197
adjacent to the ballot measure or the name of the candidate. 198
(d) The voter underlines the ballot measure or the name 199
of a candidate. 200
(e) The voter draws a line from the arrow, oval, circle 201
or square to a ballot measure or the name of a candidate. 202
(f) The voter draws a circle or oval around the ballot 203
measure or the name of the candidate. 204
(g) The voter draws a circle or oval around the arrow, 205
oval, circle or square adjacent to the ballot measure or the name 206
of the candidate. 207
(7) The resolution board, when inspecting an OMR ballot that 208
contains or appears to contain one or more overvotes, appears to 209
be damaged or defective, or is rejected by the OMR equipment for 210
any reason or cannot be counted by the OMR equipment, shall make 211
its determination in accordance with the following: 212
(a) When an elector casts more votes for any office or 213
measure than he or she is entitled to cast at an election, all the 214
elector's votes for that office or measure are invalid and the 215
elector is deemed to have voted for none of them. If an elector 216
casts less votes for any office or measure than he or she is 217
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entitled to cast at an election, all votes cast by the elector 218
shall be counted but no vote shall be counted more than once. 219
(b) If an elector casts more than one (1) vote for the 220
same candidate for the same office, the first vote is valid and 221
the remaining votes for that candidate are invalid. 222
* * * 223
( * * *c) For any ballot measure in which the words 224
"for" or "against" are printed on a ballot, if the voter shall 225
write the word "for" or the word "against" instead of or in 226
addition to marking the ballot in accordance with the ballot 227
instruction in the space adjacent to the preprinted words "for" or 228
"against," the resolution board shall, in reviewing such ballot, 229
count the vote in accordance with the voter's handwritten 230
preference, unless the voter marks the ballot in the space 231
adjacent to the preprinted words "for" or "against" contrary to 232
the handwritten preference, in which case no vote shall be 233
recorded for such ballot in regard to the ballot measure. 234
( * * *d) For any ballot measure in which the words 235
"yes" or "no" are printed on a ballot, if the voter shall write 236
the word "yes" or the word "no" instead of or in addition to 237
marking the ballot in accordance with the ballot instructions in 238
the space adjacent to the preprinted words "yes" or "no," the 239
resolution board shall, in reviewing such ballot, count the vote 240
in accordance with the voter's handwritten preference, unless the 241
voter marks the ballot in the space adjacent to the preprinted 242
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words "yes" or "no" contrary to the handwritten preference, in 243
which case no vote shall be recorded for such ballot in regard to 244
the ballot measure. 245
(8) OMR equipment shall be programmed, calibrated, adjusted 246
and set up to reject ballots that appear to be damaged or 247
defective. Any switch, lever or feature on OMR equipment that 248
enables or permits the OMR equipment to override the rejection of 249
damaged or defective ballots so that such ballots will not be 250
reviewed by the resolution board, shall not be used. 251
(9) Ballots shall be manually counted by the resolution 252
board only when the ballots are: 253
(a) Properly before the resolution board due to being 254
rejected by the OMR equipment because the ballots appear to be 255
damaged or defective or are rejected by the OMR equipment for any 256
other reason; or 257
(b) Properly before the resolution board due to a 258
malfunction in the OMR equipment. 259
(10) The resolution board shall make and keep a record 260
regarding the handling and counting of all ballots inspected under 261
this section. 262
(11) The executive committee of each county or municipality, 263
in the case of a primary election, or the election commissioners 264
of each county or municipality, in the case of all other 265
elections, in conjunction with the circuit or municipal clerk 266
respectively, shall sponsor and conduct, a training session for up 267
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to two (2) hours, not less than five (5) days before each 268
election, to instruct those qualified electors who are appointed 269
to serve as members of the resolution board as to their specific 270
duties in the election. No member appointed to serve on the 271
resolution board shall serve in any election unless he or she has 272
received such instruction once during the twelve (12) months 273
immediately preceding the date upon which the election is held. 274
Online training courses developed by the Secretary of State, 275
though not sponsored or conducted by the executive committee or 276
the election commissioners, may be used to meet the requirements 277
of this subsection (11). 278
SECTION 4. Section 23-15-551, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 279
amended as follows: 280
23-15-551. On receiving his or her ballot, the voter shall 281
go without undue delay into one (1) of the voting compartments and 282
shall there prepare his or her ballot by marking with ink or 283
indelible pencil on the appropriate margin or place a cross (X) 284
opposite the name of the candidate of his or her choice for each 285
office * * *, and likewise a cross (X) opposite the answer he or 286
she desires to give in case of an election on a constitutional 287
amendment, local option election, referenda or any other question 288
or matter. As an alternative method, a voter may, at his or her 289
option, prepare a ballot by marking with ink or indelible pencil 290
in the appropriate margin or place a check, in the form of and 291
similar to a "V", opposite the name of the candidate of his or her 292
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ST: Blank space on ballots; remove and provide
supplementary ballot if a candidate is removed
from race after ballots are printed.
choice for each office or by writing in the name of a candidate in 293
the blank space provided and marking a check in the form of and 294
similar to a "V", opposite thereto, and likewise a check, in the 295
form of and similar to a "V", opposite the answer he or she 296
desires to give in case of an election on a constitutional 297
amendment, local option election, referenda or other question or 298
matter, either of which methods of marking, whether by a cross (X) 299
or by a check in the form of and similar to a "V", is authorized. 300
Before leaving the voting compartment, the voter shall fold his or 301
her ballot without displaying its markings, but so that the words 302
"OFFICIAL BALLOT," followed by the designation of the voting 303
precinct and the date of the election, shall be visible to the 304
poll managers, then deposit his or her ballot directly into the 305
ballot box. This shall be done without undue delay, and as soon 306
as the voter has voted he or she shall promptly exit the polling 307
place. A voter shall not be allowed to occupy a voting 308
compartment already occupied by another voter, nor any compartment 309
longer than ten (10) minutes, if other voters are not waiting, nor 310
longer than five (5) minutes if other voters are waiting. A 311
person shall not be allowed in the room in which the ballot boxes, 312
compartments, tables and shelves are, except the officers of the 313
election, and those appointed by them to assist therein, and those 314
authorized by Section 23-15-577. 315
SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from 316
and after July 1, 2026. 317