Absentee voting; extend time allowed on Saturdays to 5:00 p.m.

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To: Apportionment and
Elections
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representatives Scott, Anthony

HOUSE BILL NO. 81

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-653, 23-15-637 AND 23-15-715, 1
MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE REGISTRAR'S OFFICE TO 2
REMAIN OPEN UNTIL 5:00 P.M. ON THE TWO SATURDAYS IMMEDIATELY 3
PRECEDING THE ELECTION FOR ABSENTEE VOTING; AND FOR RELATED 4
PURPOSES. 5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 6
SECTION 1. Section 23-15-653, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 7
amended as follows: 8
23-15-653. All registrars' offices shall remain open 9
until * * * 5:00 p.m. on the two (2) Saturdays prior to each 10
election. 11
SECTION 2. Section 23-15-637, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 12
amended as follows: 13
23-15-637. (1) (a) Absentee ballots and applications 14
received by mail, except for fax or electronically transmitted 15
ballots as otherwise provided by Section 23-15-699 for UOCAVA 16
ballots, or common carrier, such as United Parcel Service or FedEx 17
Corporation, must be postmarked on or before the date of the 18
election and received by the registrar no more than five (5) 19
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business days after the election; any received after such time 20
shall be handled as provided in Section 23-15-647 and shall not be 21
counted. 22
(b) All ballots cast by the absent elector appearing in 23
person in the office of the registrar shall be cast with an 24
absentee paper ballot and deposited into a sealed ballot box by 25
the voter, not later than * * * 5:00 p.m. on the Saturday 26
immediately preceding elections held on Tuesday, the Thursday 27
immediately preceding elections held on Saturday, or the second 28
day immediately preceding the date of elections held on other 29
days. At the close of business each day at the office of the 30
registrar, the ballot box used shall be sealed and not unsealed 31
until the beginning of the next business day, and the seal number 32
shall be recorded with the number of ballots cast which shall be 33
stored in a secure location in the registrar's office. 34
(2) The registrar shall deposit all absentee ballots which 35
have been timely cast and received by mail in a secured and sealed 36
box in a designated location in the registrar's office upon 37
receipt. The registrar shall not send any absentee ballots to the 38
precinct polling locations. 39
(3) The Secretary of State shall promulgate rules and 40
regulations necessary to ensure that when a qualified elector who 41
is qualified to vote absentee votes by absentee ballot, either by 42
mail or in person with a regular paper ballot, that person's 43
absentee vote is final and he or she may not vote at the polling 44
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place on election day. Notwithstanding any other provisions of 45
law to the contrary, the Secretary of State shall promulgate rules 46
and regulations necessary to ensure that absentee ballots shall 47
remain in the registrar's office for counting and not be taken to 48
the precincts on election day. 49
SECTION 3. Section 23-15-715, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 50
amended as follows: 51
23-15-715. Any elector desiring an absentee ballot as 52
provided in this subarticle may secure * * * an absentee ballot 53
if: 54
(a) Not more than forty-five (45) days nor later 55
than * * * 5:00 p.m., on the Saturday immediately preceding 56
elections held on Tuesday, the Thursday immediately preceding 57
elections held on Saturday, or the second day immediately 58
preceding the date of elections held on other days, he or 59
she * * * appears in person before the registrar of the county in 60
which he or she resides, or for municipal elections, he * * * or 61
she appears in person before the city clerk of the municipality in 62
which he or she resides and, when the elector so appears, he or 63
she shall execute and file an application as provided in Section 64
23-15-627 and vote by absentee ballot. If the absentee ballot has 65
not been printed by forty-five (45) days preceding the election, 66
the elector may appear and file an application anytime before the 67
election. Then the absentee ballot shall be mailed by the 68
registrar to the elector as soon as the ballot has been printed. 69
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(b) Within forty-five (45) days next prior to any 70
election, any elector who cannot comply with paragraph (a) of this 71
section by reason of temporarily residing outside the county, or 72
any person who has a temporary or permanent physical disability, 73
persons who are sixty-five (65) years of age or older, any person 74
who is incarcerated in prison or jail in the county where the 75
person is registered to vote and has not been convicted of a 76
disenfranchising crime, or any person who is the parent, spouse or 77
dependent of a temporarily or permanently physically disabled 78
person who is hospitalized outside of his or her county of 79
residence or more than fifty (50) miles away from his or her 80
residence and such parent, spouse or dependent will be with such 81
person on election day, may make application for an absentee 82
ballot by mailing the appropriate application to the registrar. 83
Only persons temporarily residing out of the county of their 84
residence, persons having a temporary or permanent physical 85
disability, persons who are sixty-five (65) years of age or older, 86
any person who is incarcerated in prison or jail in the county 87
where the person is registered to vote and has not been convicted 88
of a disenfranchising crime, or any person who is the parent, 89
spouse or dependent of a temporarily or permanently physically 90
disabled person who is hospitalized outside of his or her county 91
of residence or more than fifty (50) miles away from his or her 92
residence, and such parent, spouse or dependent will be with such 93
person on election day, may obtain absentee ballots by mail under 94
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ST: Absentee voting; extend time allowed on
Saturdays to 5:00 p.m.
the provisions of this subsection and as provided by Section 95
23-15-713. Applications of persons temporarily residing outside 96
the county shall be sworn to and subscribed before an official who 97
is authorized to administer oaths or other official authorized to 98
witness absentee balloting as provided in this chapter, * * * and 99
the application * * * must be accompanied by such verifying 100
affidavits as required by this chapter. The applications of 101
persons having a temporary or permanent physical disability shall 102
not be required to be accompanied by an affidavit but shall be 103
witnessed and signed by a person eighteen (18) years of age or 104
older. The registrar shall send to such absent voter a proper 105
absentee voter ballot within twenty-four (24) hours, or as soon 106
thereafter as the ballots are available, containing the names of 107
all candidates who qualify or the proposition to be voted on in 108
such election, and with such ballot there shall be sent an 109
official envelope containing upon it in printed form the recitals 110
and data hereinafter required. 111
(c) Except when the voter has requested a runoff ballot 112
on the initial absentee ballot application, upon request for a 113
runoff ballot pursuant to Section 23-15-719, the registrar shall 114
mail together the absentee ballot application and the absentee 115
ballot to the absent voter for the runoff election. 116
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from 117
and after July 1, 2026. 118