Affidavit ballots; require Secretary of State to make status of available through secure portal on his website.

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To: Apportionment and
Elections
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Nelson

HOUSE BILL NO. 453

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-573, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO REQUIRE THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO PROVIDE ON HIS OFFICIAL 2
WEBSITE A SECURE PORTAL THAT ALLOWS A VOTER WHO VOTES BY AFFIDAVIT 3
BALLOT TO ENTER A SECURE PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER AND PULL 4
UP HIS OR HER AFFIDAVIT BALLOT AND DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THE 5
VOTE WAS COUNTED; TO PROVIDE THAT IF THE VOTE WAS NOT COUNTED, THE 6
REASONS THE VOTE WAS NOT COUNTED SHALL ALSO BE LISTED IN THE 7
SECURE PORTAL ON THE WEBSITE; TO PROVIDE THAT THE SECRETARY OF 8
STATE SHALL MAKE SUCH INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON HIS OFFICIAL 9
WEBSITE WITHIN THIRTY DAYS OF THE DATE OF THE ELECTION; AND FOR 10
RELATED PURPOSES. 11
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 12
SECTION 1. Section 23-15-573, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 13
amended as follows: 14
23-15-573. (1) If any person declares that he or she is a 15
registered voter in the jurisdiction in which he or she offers to 16
vote and that he or she is eligible to vote in the election, but 17
his or her name does not appear upon the pollbooks, or that he or 18
she is not able to cast a regular election day ballot under a 19
provision of state or federal law but is otherwise qualified to 20
vote, or that he or she has been illegally denied registration, or 21
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that he or she is unable to present an acceptable form of photo 22
identification: 23
(a) A poll manager shall notify the person that he or 24
she may cast an affidavit ballot at the election. 25
(b) The person shall be permitted to cast an affidavit 26
ballot at the polling place upon execution of a written affidavit 27
before one (1) of the poll managers stating that the individual: 28
(i) Believes he or she is a registered voter in 29
the jurisdiction in which he or she desires to vote and is 30
eligible to vote in the election; or 31
(ii) Is not able to cast a regular election day 32
ballot under a provision of state or federal law but is otherwise 33
qualified to vote; or 34
(iii) Believes that he or she has been illegally 35
denied registration; or 36
(iv) Is unable to present an acceptable form of 37
photo identification. 38
(c) The poll manager shall allow the individual to mark 39
a paper ballot properly endorsed by the initialing poll manager or 40
alternate initialing poll manager in accordance with Section 41
23-15-541, which shall be delivered by him or her to the proper 42
election official who shall enclose it in an affidavit ballot 43
envelope, with the written and signed affidavit of the voter 44
affixed to the envelope, seal the envelope and mark plainly upon 45
it the name of the person offering to vote. 46
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(2) The affidavit ballot envelope shall include: 47
(a) The complete name of the voter; 48
(b) A present and previous physical and mailing address 49
of the voter; 50
(c) Telephone numbers where the voter may be contacted; 51
(d) A statement that the affiant believes he or she is 52
registered to vote in the jurisdiction in which he or she offers 53
to vote; 54
(e) The signature of the affiant; and 55
(f) The signature of the poll manager at the polling 56
place at which the affiant offers to vote. 57
(3) (a) A separate receipt book shall be maintained for 58
affidavit voters and the affidavit voters shall sign the receipt 59
book upon completing the affidavit ballot. 60
(b) If the affidavit voter is casting an affidavit 61
ballot because the voter is unable to present an acceptable form 62
of photo identification and the voter's name appears in the 63
pollbook, then the poll manager shall write "NO ID" across from 64
the voter's name and in the appropriate column in the pollbook. 65
(c) In canvassing the returns of the election, the 66
executive committee in primary elections, or the election 67
commissioners in other elections, shall examine the records and 68
allow the ballot to be counted, or not counted as it appears 69
legal. 70
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(d) An affidavit ballot of a voter who was unable to 71
present an acceptable form of photo identification shall not be 72
rejected for this reason if the voter does either of the 73
following: 74
(i) Returns to the circuit clerk's office, or to 75
the municipal clerk's office for municipal elections, within five 76
(5) business days after the date of the election and presents an 77
acceptable form of photo identification; 78
(ii) Returns to the circuit clerk's office within 79
five (5) business days after the date of the election to obtain 80
the Mississippi Voter Identification Card, or in municipal 81
election, returns to the municipal clerk's office within five (5) 82
business days after the date of the election to present his or her 83
Mississippi Voter Identification Card or Temporary Mississippi 84
Voter Identification Card; or 85
(iii) Returns to the circuit clerk's office, or to 86
the municipal clerk's office for municipal elections, within five 87
(5) business days after the date of the election to execute a 88
separate Affidavit of Religious Objection. 89
(4) When a person is offered the opportunity to vote by 90
affidavit ballot, he or she shall be provided with written 91
information that informs the person * * * that he or she may check 92
the Secretary of State's website within thirty (30) days after the 93
date of the election in order to ascertain whether his or her 94
affidavit ballot was counted, and if the vote was not counted, the 95
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reasons the vote was not counted. The Secretary of State shall 96
provide on his official website a secure portal that allows a 97
voter who votes by affidavit ballot to enter a secure personal 98
identification number, such as the last four (4) numbers of his or 99
her social security number, and pull up his or her affidavit 100
ballot and determine whether or not the vote was counted. If the 101
vote was not counted, the reasons the vote was not counted shall 102
also be listed. The Secretary of State shall make such 103
information available on his official website within thirty (30) 104
days of the date of the election. 105
(5) The officials in charge of the election shall process 106
all affidavit ballots by using the Statewide Elections Management 107
System. The officials in charge of the election shall account for 108
all affidavit ballots cast in each election, categorizing the 109
affidavit ballots cast by reason and recording the total number of 110
affidavit ballots counted and not counted in each such category in 111
the Statewide Elections Management System. 112
(6) The Secretary of State shall, by rule duly adopted, 113
establish a uniform affidavit ballot envelope that shall be used 114
in all elections in this state. The Secretary of State shall 115
print and distribute a sufficient number of affidavit ballot 116
envelopes to the registrar of each county for use in elections. 117
The registrar shall distribute the affidavit ballot envelopes to 118
municipal and county executive committees for use in primary 119
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ST: Affidavit ballots; require Secretary of
State to make status of available through secure
portal on his website.
elections and to municipal and county election commissioners for 120
use in all other elections. 121
(7) County registrars and municipal registrars shall 122
maintain a secure free access system that complies with the Help 123
America Vote Act of 2002, by which persons who vote by affidavit 124
ballot may determine if their ballots were counted, and if not, 125
the reasons the ballot was not counted. 126
(8) Any person who votes in any election as a result of a 127
federal or state court order or other order extending the time 128
established by law for closing the polls on an election day, may 129
only vote by affidavit ballot. Any affidavit ballot cast under 130
this subsection shall be separated and kept apart from other 131
affidavit ballots cast by voters not affected by the order. 132
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 133
and after July 1, 2026. 134