Ballot box; prohibit the opening of and counting of votes until all of the polling places have closed.

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To: Apportionment and
Elections
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Byrd

HOUSE BILL NO. 949

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-581, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO PROVIDE THAT NO BALLOT BOX SHALL BE OPENED AND NO BALLOTS SHALL 2
BE COUNTED UNTIL ALL OF THE POLLING PLACES ARE CLOSED; TO PROVIDE 3
THAT THE POLL MANAGERS SHALL NOT PUBLICLY BREAK THE SEAL AND OPEN 4
THE BALLOT BOX TO COUNT THE BALLOTS UNTIL THE REGISTRAR HAS 5
NOTIFIED THE POLL MANAGERS THAT ALL OF THE POLLING PLACES ARE 6
CLOSED; TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-591, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 7
PROVIDE THAT THE POLL MANAGERS SHALL NOT ANNOUNCE THE RESULTS OF 8
THE ELECTION AT THEIR BOX UNTIL THEY HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED BY THE 9
REGISTRAR THAT ALL OF THE POLLING PLACES HAVE COMPLETELY AND 10
CORRECTLY COUNTED AND TALLIED THEIR VOTES; TO PROVIDE THAT ONCE 11
THE REGISTRAR NOTIFIES ALL OF THE POLL MANAGERS, THEN THE POLL 12
MANAGERS SHALL ANNOUNCE THE RESULTS OF THEIR VOTES SIMULTANEOUSLY; 13
TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-517, 23-15-595, 23-15-519, 23-15-247 AND 14
23-15-639, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE PRECEDING 15
SECTIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 16
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 17
SECTION 1. Section 23-15-581, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 18
amended as follows: 19
23-15-581. When the last qualified voter, who was standing 20
in line at the polling place at 7:00 p.m., has cast his or her 21
ballot, or 7:00 p.m., whichever is later, the poll managers shall 22
proclaim that the polls are closed * * *. When the poll managers 23
have received notification from the registrar that all of the 24
polling places have closed, then the poll managers shall publicly 25
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break the seal and open the ballot box to immediately proceed to 26
count the ballots, at the same time reading aloud the names of the 27
persons voted for, which shall be taken down. No ballot box shall 28
be opened and no ballots shall be counted while any polling places 29
are still open. During the holding of the election and the 30
counting of the ballots, the whole proceedings shall be in fair 31
and full view of the voting public, candidates or their duly 32
authorized representatives and other authorized poll watchers, 33
without unnecessary interference, delay or encroachment upon the 34
good order of the duties and proceedings of the poll managers and 35
other officers of the election. There shall be no unnecessary 36
delay and no adjournment except as provided by law. 37
SECTION 2. Section 23-15-591, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 38
amended as follows: 39
23-15-591. When the votes have been completely and correctly 40
counted and tallied by the poll managers, and all of the polling 41
places have closed, they shall publicly proclaim the result of the 42
election at their box and shall certify in duplicate a statement 43
of the result, the certificate to be signed by the poll managers, 44
one (1) of the certificates to be enclosed in the ballot box, and 45
the other to be delivered to and to be kept by one (1) of the poll 46
managers and to be inspected at any time by any voter who so 47
requests. No ballot box shall be opened and no ballots shall be 48
counted while any polling places are still open. The poll 49
managers shall not announce the results of the election at their 50
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box until they have been notified by the registrar that all of the 51
polling places have completely and correctly counted and tallied 52
their votes. Once the registrar notifies all of the poll 53
managers, then the poll managers shall announce the results of 54
their votes simultaneously. When the count of the votes and the 55
tally of the votes have been completed, the poll managers shall 56
lock and seal the ballot box, having first placed therein all 57
ballots voted, all spoiled ballots and all unused ballots. There 58
shall also be enclosed one (1) of the duplicate receipts given by 59
the poll manager who received the blank ballots received for that 60
box; and the total ballots voted, and the spoiled ballots, and the 61
unused ballots must correspond in total with the duplicate receipt 62
or else the failure thereof must be perfectly accounted for by a 63
written statement, under oath of the poll managers, which 64
statement must be enclosed in the ballot box. There shall also be 65
enclosed in the box the tally list, the receipt book containing 66
the signed names of the voters who voted; and the number of 67
ballots voted must correspond with the number of names signed in 68
the receipt book. 69
SECTION 3. Section 23-15-517, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 70
amended as follows: 71
23-15-517. At least one (1) hour before the opening of the 72
polls, the officials in charge of the election shall arrive at the 73
polling place and set up the voting booths so that they will be in 74
clear view of the poll managers; the poll managers shall examine 75
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the ballots to verify that they have the correct ballots for their 76
precinct and check the supplies, records and forms, and post the 77
sample ballots and instructions to the voters. They shall also 78
inspect the ballot boxes to ensure they contain only voted 79
absentee ballots in their envelopes with the required 80
applications, and then seal the box for voting. 81
Each voter shall receive written and/or verbal instructions 82
by the poll managers instructing the voter how to properly vote 83
the paper ballot before the voter enters the voting booth. If any 84
voter needs additional instructions after entering the voting 85
booth, two (2) poll managers may, if necessary, enter the booth 86
and give him or her such additional instructions. If any voter 87
spoils a ballot the voter may obtain others, one (1) at a time, 88
not exceeding three (3) in all, upon returning each spoiled 89
ballot. The word "SPOILED" shall be written across the face of 90
the ballot and it shall be deposited into the sealed ballot box. 91
When the polls close once the last ballot has been cast or at 7:00 92
p.m., whichever is later, the poll managers shall proclaim that 93
the polls are closed. When the poll managers have received 94
notification from the registrar that all of the polling places 95
have closed, then the poll managers shall break the seal on the 96
ballot box to process the absentee ballots. Ballots marked as 97
spoiled shall be bundled together and placed in an envelope 98
designated for spoiled ballots. Once the polls have officially 99
closed, the envelope that contains the spoiled ballots and the 100
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unused ballots shall be placed in the ballot box or other 101
container provided for that purpose which shall be sealed and 102
returned to the officials in charge of the election. 103
SECTION 4. Section 23-15-595, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 104
amended as follows: 105
23-15-595. The box containing the ballots and other records 106
required by this chapter shall, immediately after the ballots have 107
been counted in all polling places, be delivered by one (1) of the 108
poll managers to the clerk of the circuit court of the county and 109
the clerk shall, in the presence of the poll manager making 110
delivery of the box, place upon the lock of such box a 111
tamper-evident seal. The seals shall be numbered consecutively to 112
the number of ballot boxes used in the election in the county, and 113
the clerk shall keep in a place separate from such boxes a record 114
of the number of the seal of each separate box in the county. The 115
board of supervisors of the county shall pay the cost of providing 116
the seals. Upon demand of the chair of the county executive 117
committee in the case of primary elections, or the county election 118
commissioner in the case of other elections, the boxes and their 119
contents shall be delivered to the county executive committee, or 120
the county election commission, as appropriate, and after such 121
committee or commission, as appropriate, has finished the work of 122
tabulating returns and counting ballots as required by law, the 123
committee or commission, as appropriate, shall return all papers 124
and ballots to the box of the precinct where the election was 125
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held, and it shall make redelivery of the boxes and their contents 126
to the circuit clerk who shall reseal the boxes. Upon every 127
occasion the boxes shall be reopened and each resealing shall be 128
done as provided in this chapter. No ballot box shall be opened 129
and no ballots shall be counted while any polling places are still 130
open. 131
SECTION 5. Section 23-15-519, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 132
amended as follows: 133
23-15-519. The poll managers shall prepare a ballot 134
accounting report that documents the number of voters who have 135
voted, as indicated by the receipt book and the number of ballots 136
used in the election. The poll managers shall place the report in 137
the ballot box, with the seal logs, receipt books, absentee 138
ballots, affidavit ballots, challenged ballots, curbside ballots, 139
emergency ballots, spoiled ballots and unused ballots, which 140
thereupon shall be sealed with a tamper-evident seal, which is a 141
seal that has been designed in such a way to allow someone to 142
easily detect any tampering, so that no additional ballots may be 143
deposited or removed from the ballot box. The poll managers, 144
while they have possession of the election materials, and the 145
officials in charge of the election, once the poll managers have 146
delivered the ballot box to the counting center or other 147
designated place, shall be required to keep a seal log to document 148
each time a tamper-evident seal for a ballot box is opened or 149
changed. The seal log shall require the name of the person who 150
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opened the seal, the old seal number, the new seal number, the 151
date the seal was opened and the purpose for opening the seal. 152
The receiving and returning poll manager shall deliver the ballot 153
box to the counting center or other designated place once all of 154
the polling places are closed and receive a signed, numbered 155
receipt therefor. The poll books and other records and supplies 156
shall be returned as directed by the officials in charge of the 157
election. Failure to strictly comply with the provisions of this 158
section shall not result in a presumption of fraud. 159
SECTION 6. Section 23-15-247, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 160
amended as follows: 161
23-15-247. The election commissioners in each county shall 162
procure, if not already provided, a sufficient number of ballot 163
boxes, which shall be distributed by them to the voting precincts 164
of the county before the time for opening the polls. The boxes 165
shall be securely sealed from the opening of the polls on election 166
day until the polls close on election day; and the box shall be 167
kept by one (1) of the managers, and the manager having the box 168
shall carefully keep it, and neither open it himself or herself 169
nor permit it to be opened, nor permit any person to have any 170
access to it throughout the voting period during an election. The 171
box shall not be removed from the polling building or place after 172
the polls are opened until the polls close and the count is 173
complete. No ballot box shall be opened and no ballots shall be 174
counted while any polling places are still opened. After each 175
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election the ballot boxes shall be delivered to the clerk of the 176
circuit court of the county for preservation; and he or she shall 177
keep them for future use, and, when called for, deliver them to 178
the election commissioners. 179
SECTION 7. Section 23-15-639, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 180
amended as follows: 181
23-15-639. (1) The examination and counting of all absentee 182
ballots shall be conducted as follows: 183
(a) At the * * * closing of the polls once all of the 184
polling places have closed, the resolution board established under 185
Section 23-15-523 and trained in the process of canvassing 186
absentee ballots shall first take the envelopes containing the 187
absentee ballots of such electors from the secure location at the 188
registrar's office, and the name, address and precinct inscribed 189
on each envelope shall be announced by the resolution board. 190
(b) (i) For absentee ballots that were received by 191
mail, the signature on the application shall then be compared with 192
the signature in the box on the back of the envelope. A portion 193
of the elector's signature extending outside of the box shall not 194
be grounds for rejecting that elector's ballot. If it corresponds 195
and the affidavit, if one is required, is sufficient and the 196
resolution board finds that the applicant is a registered and 197
qualified voter or otherwise qualified to vote, the envelope shall 198
then be opened and the ballot removed from the envelope, without 199
its being unfolded, or permitted to be unfolded or examined. 200
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(ii) For absentee ballots that were cast in person 201
in the registrar's office, the resolution board shall confirm that 202
the voter completed the application on the front of the envelope 203
and signed the elector's certificate in the box on the back of the 204
envelope. If it is signed and the resolution board finds that the 205
applicant is a registered and qualified voter or otherwise 206
qualified to vote, the envelope shall be opened and the absentee 207
ballot removed from the envelope, without its being unfolded, or 208
permitted to be unfolded or examined. 209
(c) Having observed and found the ballot to be regular 210
as far as can be observed from its official endorsement, the 211
resolution board shall deposit it in the ballot box with the other 212
ballots before counting any ballots and enter the voter's name in 213
the receipt book provided for that purpose. All absentee ballots 214
received prior to 7:00 p.m. the day before the election shall be 215
counted in the registrar's office by the resolution board when the 216
polls close and then added to the votes cast in each precinct. 217
All absentee ballots received after 7:00 p.m. the day before the 218
election but not later than the fifth business day after the 219
election shall be processed by the resolution board. 220
(2) The resolution board shall also take such action as may 221
be prescribed by the Secretary of State to ensure compliance with 222
the identification requirements of Section 23-15-563. 223
(3) The resolution board shall process the absentee ballots 224
using the procedure provided in subsection (1) of this section. 225
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ST: Ballot box; prohibit the opening of and
counting of votes until all of the polling
places have closed.
SECTION 8. This act shall take effect and be in force from 226
and after July 1, 2026. 227