Absentee ballots; authorize executive committees to process for primary elections.

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To: Apportionment and
Elections
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Scott

HOUSE BILL NO. 37

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-523, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO REQUIRE THE RESOLUTION BOARD, FOR GENERAL AND SPECIAL 2
ELECTIONS, AND THE COUNTY OR MUNICIPAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, AS 3
APPLICABLE, FOR PRIMARY ELECTIONS, TO REVIEW ALL BALLOTS THAT HAVE 4
BEEN REJECTED BY THE OMR EQUIPMENT AND THAT ARE DAMAGED OR 5
DEFECTIVE, BLANK OR OVERVOTED; TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-639, 6
MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE EXAMINATION AND COUNTING 7
OF ALL ABSENTEE BALLOTS TO BE CONDUCTED BY THE RESOLUTION BOARD IN 8
GENERAL AND SPECIAL ELECTIONS AND BY THE COUNTY OR MUNICIPAL 9
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, AS APPROPRIATE, IN PRIMARY ELECTIONS; TO 10
BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 23-15-573 AND 23-15-597, MISSISSIPPI CODE 11
OF 1972, FOR THE PURPOSE OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED 12
PURPOSES. 13
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 14
SECTION 1. Section 23-15-523, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 15
amended as follows: 16
23-15-523. (1) All proceedings at the counting center shall 17
be under the direction of the election commissioners or officials 18
in charge of the election, and shall be conducted under the 19
observations of the public, but no persons except those authorized 20
for the purpose shall touch any ballot. All persons who are 21
engaged in processing and counting of the ballots shall take the 22
oath provided in Section 268, Mississippi Constitution of 1890. 23
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(2) The election commissioners or the officials in charge of 24
the election shall appoint qualified electors who have received 25
the training required by subsection (11) of this section to serve 26
as members of the "resolution board." An odd number of not less 27
than three (3) members shall be appointed to the resolution board. 28
The members of the board shall take the oath provided in Section 29
268, Mississippi Constitution of 1890. For general and special 30
elections, all ballots that have been rejected by the OMR 31
equipment and that are damaged or defective, blank or overvoted 32
will be reviewed by the board. For primary elections, all ballots 33
that have been rejected by the OMR equipment and that are damaged 34
or defective, blank or overvoted will be reviewed by the county or 35
municipal executive committee, as applicable. Election 36
commissioners, candidates who are on the ballot and the spouse, 37
parents, siblings or children of such a candidate shall not be 38
appointed to the resolution board. In general and special 39
elections, members of the party executive committees shall not be 40
appointed to the resolution board unless members of all of the 41
party executive committees who have a candidate on the ballot are 42
appointed to the resolution board. 43
(3) (a) If any ballot is damaged or defective so that it 44
cannot be properly counted by the OMR equipment, the ballot will 45
be deposited in an envelope provided for that purpose marked 46
"RESOLUTION BOARD * * *" or "EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE," as applicable. 47
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All such ballots shall be carefully handled so as to avoid 48
altering, removing or adding any mark on the ballot. 49
(b) The election commissioners or the officials in 50
charge of the election shall have the members of the resolution 51
board, for a general or special election, or the members of the 52
county or municipal executive committee, for a primary election, 53
ascertain the intent of the voter, if possible, and, if so, 54
manually count any damaged or defective ballots. 55
(c) The resolution board or the executive committee, as 56
appropriate, shall prepare a duplicate to the damaged or defective 57
ballot in the following manner: 58
(i) The resolution board or the executive 59
committee, as appropriate, shall prepare a duplicate to the 60
original damaged or defective ballot marked identically to the 61
original. 62
(ii) The resolution board or the executive 63
committee, as appropriate, shall mark the first original they 64
examine as "Original #1" and the duplicate of this original as 65
"Duplicate #1." Later originals and duplicates shall be likewise 66
marked and numbered consecutively so the duplicate of each 67
original can be identified. Duplicate ballots shall be stamped in 68
a different manner from the original ballots so that they may be 69
easily distinguished from the originals. 70
(iii) The duplicate ballots prepared pursuant to 71
this paragraph shall be counted by the OMR equipment. 72
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(4) The resolution board or the executive committee, as 73
appropriate, shall examine ballots that have been rejected by the 74
OMR equipment for appearing to be "blank" to verify if they are 75
blank or were marked with a "nondetectable" marking device. If it 76
is determined that the ballot was marked with a nondetectable 77
device, the resolution board or the executive committee, as 78
appropriate, shall prepare a duplicate to the original blank 79
ballot in the same manner and in accordance with the same process 80
provided in subsection (3)(c). 81
(5) All ballots that are rejected by the OMR equipment and 82
that contain overvotes shall be inspected by the resolution board 83
or the executive committee, as appropriate. Regarding those 84
rejected ballots upon which an overvote appears, if the voter 85
intent cannot be determined by the resolution board or the 86
executive committee, as appropriate, the officials in charge of 87
the election may use the OMR equipment in determining the vote in 88
the races that are unaffected by the overvote. All other ballots 89
that are overvoted shall be counted manually following the 90
provisions of this section at the direction of the officials in 91
charge of the election. The return printed by the OMR equipment 92
to which have been added the manually tallied ballots, which shall 93
be duly certified by the officials in charge of the election, 94
shall constitute the official return of each voting precinct. 95
Unofficial and incomplete returns may be released during the 96
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count. Upon the completion of the counting, the official returns 97
shall be open to the public. 98
(6) When the resolution board or the executive committee, as 99
appropriate, reviews any OMR ballot in which the voter has failed 100
to fill in the arrow, oval, circle or square for a candidate or a 101
ballot measure, the resolution board or the executive committee, 102
as appropriate, shall, if the intent of the voter can be 103
ascertained, count the vote if: 104
(a) The voter marks the ballot with a "cross" (X) or 105
"checkmark" (√) and the lines that form the mark intersect within 106
or on the line of the arrow, oval, circle or square by the ballot 107
measure or the name of the candidate. 108
(b) The voter blackens the arrow, oval, circle or 109
square adjacent to the ballot measure or the name of the candidate 110
in pencil or ink and the blackened portion extends beyond the 111
boundaries of the arrow, oval, circle or square. 112
(c) The voter marks the ballot with a "cross" (X) or 113
"checkmark" (√) and the lines that form the mark intersect 114
adjacent to the ballot measure or the name of the candidate. 115
(d) The voter underlines the ballot measure or the name 116
of a candidate. 117
(e) The voter draws a line from the arrow, oval, circle 118
or square to a ballot measure or the name of a candidate. 119
(f) The voter draws a circle or oval around the ballot 120
measure or the name of the candidate. 121
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(g) The voter draws a circle or oval around the arrow, 122
oval, circle or square adjacent to the ballot measure or the name 123
of the candidate. 124
(7) The resolution board or the executive committee, as 125
appropriate, when inspecting an OMR ballot that contains or 126
appears to contain one or more overvotes, appears to be damaged or 127
defective, or is rejected by the OMR equipment for any reason or 128
cannot be counted by the OMR equipment, shall make its 129
determination in accordance with the following: 130
(a) When an elector casts more votes for any office or 131
measure than he or she is entitled to cast at an election, all the 132
elector's votes for that office or measure are invalid and the 133
elector is deemed to have voted for none of them. If an elector 134
casts less votes for any office or measure than he or she is 135
entitled to cast at an election, all votes cast by the elector 136
shall be counted but no vote shall be counted more than once. 137
(b) If an elector casts more than one (1) vote for the 138
same candidate for the same office, the first vote is valid and 139
the remaining votes for that candidate are invalid. 140
(c) No write-in vote for a candidate whose name is 141
printed on the ballot shall be regarded as invalid due to 142
misspelling a candidate's name, or by abbreviation, addition or 143
omission or use of a wrong initial in the name, as long as the 144
intent of the voter can be ascertained. 145
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(d) In any case where a voter writes in the name of a 146
candidate for President of the United States whose name is printed 147
on the general election ballot, the failure by the voter to write 148
in the name of a candidate for the Office of Vice President of the 149
United States on the general election ballot does not invalidate 150
the elector's vote for the slate of electors for any candidate 151
whose name is written in for the Office of President of the United 152
States. 153
(e) For any ballot measure in which the words "for" or 154
"against" are printed on a ballot, if the voter shall write the 155
word "for" or the word "against" instead of or in addition to 156
marking the ballot in accordance with the ballot instruction in 157
the space adjacent to the preprinted words "for" or "against," the 158
resolution board or the executive committee, as appropriate, 159
shall, in reviewing such ballot, count the vote in accordance with 160
the voter's handwritten preference, unless the voter marks the 161
ballot in the space adjacent to the preprinted words "for" or 162
"against" contrary to the handwritten preference, in which case no 163
vote shall be recorded for such ballot in regard to the ballot 164
measure. 165
(f) For any ballot measure in which the words "yes" or 166
"no" are printed on a ballot, if the voter shall write the word 167
"yes" or the word "no" instead of or in addition to marking the 168
ballot in accordance with the ballot instructions in the space 169
adjacent to the preprinted words "yes" or "no," the resolution 170
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board or the executive committee, as appropriate, shall, in 171
reviewing such ballot, count the vote in accordance with the 172
voter's handwritten preference, unless the voter marks the ballot 173
in the space adjacent to the preprinted words "yes" or "no" 174
contrary to the handwritten preference, in which case no vote 175
shall be recorded for such ballot in regard to the ballot measure. 176
(8) OMR equipment shall be programmed, calibrated, adjusted 177
and set up to reject ballots that appear to be damaged or 178
defective. Any switch, lever or feature on OMR equipment that 179
enables or permits the OMR equipment to override the rejection of 180
damaged or defective ballots so that such ballots will not be 181
reviewed by the resolution board or the executive committee, as 182
appropriate, shall not be used. 183
(9) Ballots shall be manually counted by the resolution 184
board or the executive committee, as appropriate, only when the 185
ballots are: 186
(a) Properly before the resolution board or the 187
executive committee, as appropriate, due to being rejected by the 188
OMR equipment because the ballots appear to be damaged or 189
defective or are rejected by the OMR equipment for any other 190
reason; or 191
(b) Properly before the resolution board or the 192
executive committee, as appropriate, due to a malfunction in the 193
OMR equipment. 194
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(10) The resolution board or the executive committee, as 195
appropriate, shall make and keep a record regarding the handling 196
and counting of all ballots inspected under this section. 197
(11) The executive committee of each county or municipality, 198
in the case of a primary election, or the election commissioners 199
of each county or municipality, in the case of all other 200
elections, in conjunction with the circuit or municipal clerk 201
respectively, shall sponsor and conduct, a training session for up 202
to two (2) hours, not less than five (5) days before each 203
election, to instruct those qualified electors who are appointed 204
to serve as members of the resolution board as to their specific 205
duties in the election. No member appointed to serve on the 206
resolution board shall serve in any election unless he or she has 207
received such instruction once during the twelve (12) months 208
immediately preceding the date upon which the election is held. 209
Online training courses developed by the Secretary of State, 210
though not sponsored or conducted by the executive committee or 211
the election commissioners, may be used to meet the requirements 212
of this subsection (11). 213
SECTION 2. Section 23-15-639, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 214
amended as follows: 215
23-15-639. (1) The examination and counting of all absentee 216
ballots shall be conducted as follows: 217
(a) At the opening of the regular balloting and at the 218
opening of the polls for general and special elections, the 219
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resolution board established under Section 23-15-523 and trained 220
in the process of canvassing absentee ballots shall first take the 221
envelopes containing the absentee ballots of such electors from 222
the secure location at the registrar's office, and the name, 223
address and precinct inscribed on each envelope shall be announced 224
by the resolution board. In primary elections, the county or 225
municipal executive committee, as appropriate, shall first take 226
the envelopes containing the absentee ballots of such electors 227
from the secure location at the circuit or municipal clerk's 228
office, as appropriate, and the name, address and precinct 229
inscribed on each envelope shall be announced by the county or 230
municipal executive committee, as appropriate. 231
(b) (i) For absentee ballots that were received by 232
mail, the signature on the application shall then be compared with 233
the signature in the box on the back of the envelope. A portion 234
of the elector's signature extending outside of the box shall not 235
be grounds for rejecting that elector's ballot. If it corresponds 236
and the affidavit, if one is required, is sufficient and the 237
resolution board or executive committee, as appropriate, finds 238
that the applicant is a registered and qualified voter or 239
otherwise qualified to vote, the envelope shall then be opened and 240
the ballot removed from the envelope, without its being unfolded, 241
or permitted to be unfolded or examined. 242
(ii) For absentee ballots that were cast in person 243
in the registrar's office, the resolution board or executive 244
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committee, as appropriate, shall confirm that the voter completed 245
the application on the front of the envelope and signed the 246
elector's certificate in the box on the back of the envelope. If 247
it is signed and the resolution board or executive committee, as 248
appropriate, finds that the applicant is a registered and 249
qualified voter or otherwise qualified to vote, the envelope shall 250
be opened and the absentee ballot removed from the envelope, 251
without its being unfolded, or permitted to be unfolded or 252
examined. 253
(c) Having observed and found the ballot to be regular 254
as far as can be observed from its official endorsement, the 255
resolution board or executive committee, as appropriate, shall 256
deposit it in the ballot box with the other ballots before 257
counting any ballots and enter the voter's name in the receipt 258
book provided for that purpose. All absentee ballots received 259
prior to 7:00 p.m. the day before the election shall be counted in 260
the registrar's office by the resolution board or executive 261
committee, as appropriate, when the polls close and then added to 262
the votes cast in each precinct. All absentee ballots received 263
after 7:00 p.m. the day before the election but not later than the 264
fifth business day after the election shall be processed by the 265
resolution board or executive committee, as appropriate. 266
(2) The resolution board or executive committee, as 267
appropriate, shall also take such action as may be prescribed by 268
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the Secretary of State to ensure compliance with the 269
identification requirements of Section 23-15-563. 270
(3) The resolution board or executive committee, as 271
appropriate, shall process the absentee ballots using the 272
procedure provided in subsection (1) of this section. 273
SECTION 3. Section 23-15-573, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 274
brought forward as follows: 275
23-15-573. (1) If any person declares that he or she is a 276
registered voter in the jurisdiction in which he or she offers to 277
vote and that he or she is eligible to vote in the election, but 278
his or her name does not appear upon the pollbooks, or that he or 279
she is not able to cast a regular election day ballot under a 280
provision of state or federal law but is otherwise qualified to 281
vote, or that he or she has been illegally denied registration, or 282
that he or she is unable to present an acceptable form of photo 283
identification: 284
(a) A poll manager shall notify the person that he or 285
she may cast an affidavit ballot at the election. 286
(b) The person shall be permitted to cast an affidavit 287
ballot at the polling place upon execution of a written affidavit 288
before one (1) of the poll managers stating that the individual: 289
(i) Believes he or she is a registered voter in 290
the jurisdiction in which he or she desires to vote and is 291
eligible to vote in the election; or 292
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(ii) Is not able to cast a regular election day 293
ballot under a provision of state or federal law but is otherwise 294
qualified to vote; or 295
(iii) Believes that he or she has been illegally 296
denied registration; or 297
(iv) Is unable to present an acceptable form of 298
photo identification. 299
(c) The poll manager shall allow the individual to mark 300
a paper ballot properly endorsed by the initialing poll manager or 301
alternate initialing poll manager in accordance with Section 302
23-15-541, which shall be delivered by him or her to the proper 303
election official who shall enclose it in an affidavit ballot 304
envelope, with the written and signed affidavit of the voter 305
affixed to the envelope, seal the envelope and mark plainly upon 306
it the name of the person offering to vote. 307
(2) The affidavit ballot envelope shall include: 308
(a) The complete name of the voter; 309
(b) A present and previous physical and mailing address 310
of the voter; 311
(c) Telephone numbers where the voter may be contacted; 312
(d) A statement that the affiant believes he or she is 313
registered to vote in the jurisdiction in which he or she offers 314
to vote; 315
(e) The signature of the affiant; and 316
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(f) The signature of the poll manager at the polling 317
place at which the affiant offers to vote. 318
(3) (a) A separate receipt book shall be maintained for 319
affidavit voters and the affidavit voters shall sign the receipt 320
book upon completing the affidavit ballot. 321
(b) If the affidavit voter is casting an affidavit 322
ballot because the voter is unable to present an acceptable form 323
of photo identification and the voter's name appears in the 324
pollbook, then the poll manager shall write "NO ID" across from 325
the voter's name and in the appropriate column in the pollbook. 326
(c) In canvassing the returns of the election, the 327
executive committee in primary elections, or the election 328
commissioners in other elections, shall examine the records and 329
allow the ballot to be counted, or not counted as it appears 330
legal. 331
(d) An affidavit ballot of a voter who was unable to 332
present an acceptable form of photo identification shall not be 333
rejected for this reason if the voter does either of the 334
following: 335
(i) Returns to the circuit clerk's office, or to 336
the municipal clerk's office for municipal elections, within five 337
(5) business days after the date of the election and presents an 338
acceptable form of photo identification; 339
(ii) Returns to the circuit clerk's office within 340
five (5) business days after the date of the election to obtain 341
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the Mississippi Voter Identification Card, or in municipal 342
election, returns to the municipal clerk's office within five (5) 343
business days after the date of the election to present his or her 344
Mississippi Voter Identification Card or Temporary Mississippi 345
Voter Identification Card; or 346
(iii) Returns to the circuit clerk's office, or to 347
the municipal clerk's office for municipal elections, within five 348
(5) business days after the date of the election to execute a 349
separate Affidavit of Religious Objection. 350
(4) When a person is offered the opportunity to vote by 351
affidavit ballot, he or she shall be provided with written 352
information that informs the person how to ascertain whether his 353
or her affidavit ballot was counted and, if the vote was not 354
counted, the reasons the vote was not counted. 355
(5) The officials in charge of the election shall process 356
all affidavit ballots by using the Statewide Elections Management 357
System. The officials in charge of the election shall account for 358
all affidavit ballots cast in each election, categorizing the 359
affidavit ballots cast by reason and recording the total number of 360
affidavit ballots counted and not counted in each such category in 361
the Statewide Elections Management System. 362
(6) The Secretary of State shall, by rule duly adopted, 363
establish a uniform affidavit ballot envelope that shall be used 364
in all elections in this state. The Secretary of State shall 365
print and distribute a sufficient number of affidavit ballot 366
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envelopes to the registrar of each county for use in elections. 367
The registrar shall distribute the affidavit ballot envelopes to 368
municipal and county executive committees for use in primary 369
elections and to municipal and county election commissioners for 370
use in all other elections. 371
(7) County registrars and municipal registrars shall 372
maintain a secure free access system that complies with the Help 373
America Vote Act of 2002, by which persons who vote by affidavit 374
ballot may determine if their ballots were counted, and if not, 375
the reasons the ballot was not counted. 376
(8) Any person who votes in any election as a result of a 377
federal or state court order or other order extending the time 378
established by law for closing the polls on an election day, may 379
only vote by affidavit ballot. Any affidavit ballot cast under 380
this subsection shall be separated and kept apart from other 381
affidavit ballots cast by voters not affected by the order. 382
SECTION 4. Section 23-15-597, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 383
brought forward as follows: 384
23-15-597. (1) The county executive committee shall meet 385
no later than one (1) week from the day following each primary 386
election to receive and canvass the returns that must be made 387
within the time fixed by law for returns of general elections and 388
declare the result, and announce the name of the nominees for 389
county and county district offices and the names of those 390
candidates to be submitted to the second primary. The vote for 391
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state, state district offices and legislative offices shall be 392
tabulated by precincts and certified to and returned to the State 393
Executive Committee, such returns to be mailed by registered 394
letter or any safe mode of transmission within thirty-six (36) 395
hours after the returns are canvassed and the result ascertained. 396
The State Executive Committee shall meet one (1) week from the day 397
following the first primary election held for state, state 398
district offices and legislative offices, and shall proceed to 399
canvass the returns and to declare the result, and announce the 400
names of those nominated for the different offices in the first 401
primary and the names of those candidates whose names are to be 402
submitted to the second primary election. The State Executive 403
Committee shall also meet one (1) week from the day on which the 404
second primary election was held and receive and canvass the 405
returns for state and district offices, if any, and legislative 406
offices, if any, voted on in the second primary. An exact and 407
full duplicate of all tabulations by precincts as certified under 408
this section shall be filed with the circuit clerk of the county 409
who shall safely preserve the same in his or her office. 410
(2) (a) If it is eligible under Section 23-15-266, the 411
county executive committee may enter into a written agreement with 412
the circuit clerk or the county election commission authorizing 413
the circuit clerk or the county election commission to perform any 414
of the duties required of the county executive committee pursuant 415
to this section. Any agreement entered into pursuant to this 416
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ST: Absentee ballots; authorize executive
committees to process for primary elections.
subsection shall be signed by the chair of the county executive 417
committee and the circuit clerk or the chair of the county 418
election commission, as appropriate. The county executive 419
committee shall notify the State Executive Committee and the 420
Secretary of State of the existence of the agreement. 421
(b) If it is eligible under Section 23-15-266, the 422
municipal executive committee may enter into a written agreement 423
with the municipal clerk or the municipal election commission 424
authorizing the municipal clerk or the municipal election 425
commission to perform any of the duties required of the municipal 426
executive committee pursuant to this section. Any agreement 427
entered into pursuant to this subsection shall be signed by the 428
chair of the municipal executive committee and the municipal clerk 429
or the chair of the municipal election commission, as appropriate. 430
The municipal executive committee shall notify the State Executive 431
Committee and the Secretary of State of the existence of the 432
agreement. 433
SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from 434
and after July 1, 2026. 435