Restoration of the Right to Vote Act; enact.

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To: Constitution; Judiciary,
Division B
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Senator(s) Thomas

SENATE BILL NO. 2034

AN ACT TO ENACT THE RESTORATION OF THE RIGHT TO VOTE ACT; TO 1
PROVIDE THAT A PERSON WHO HAS BEEN CONVICTED OF VOTE FRAUD, OF ANY 2
CRIME LISTED IN SECTION 241, MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, OR 3
OF ANY CRIME INTERPRETED AS DISENFRANCHISING IN LATER ATTORNEY 4
GENERAL OR JUDICIAL OPINIONS IS OTHERWISE A QUALIFIED ELECTOR, 5
SHALL HAVE HIS OR HER RIGHT TO VOTE SUSPENDED UPON CONVICTION BUT 6
SHALL HAVE HIS OR HER RIGHT TO VOTE AUTOMATICALLY RESTORED ONCE HE 7
OR SHE HAS SATISFIED ALL OF THE SENTENCING REQUIREMENTS OF THE 8
CONVICTION; TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-11, 23-15-19, 23-15-125, 9
23-15-151, 23-15-153 AND 23-15-165, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO 10
CONFORM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 11
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 12
SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the 13
"Restoration of the Right to Vote Act." 14
SECTION 2. A person who has been convicted of vote fraud, of 15
any crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, 16
or of any crime interpreted as disenfranchising in later Attorney 17
General or judicial opinions and is otherwise a qualified elector 18
under Section 23-15-11, shall have his or her right to vote 19
suspended upon conviction. The person shall have his or her right 20
to vote automatically restored once he or she has satisfied all of 21
the sentencing requirements of the conviction. 22
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SECTION 3. Section 23-15-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 23
amended as follows: 24
23-15-11. (1) Every inhabitant of this state, except 25
persons adjudicated to be non compos mentis, shall be a qualified 26
elector in and for the county, municipality and voting precinct of 27
his or her residence and shall be entitled to vote at any election 28
upon compliance with Section 23-15-563, if he or she: 29
(a) * * * Is a citizen of the United States of 30
America * * *; 31
(b) Is eighteen (18) years old and upwards * * *; 32
(c) * * * Has resided in this state for thirty (30) 33
days and for thirty (30) days in the county in which he or she 34
seeks to vote, and for thirty (30) days in the incorporated 35
municipality in which he or she seeks to vote * * *; 36
(d) * * * Has been duly registered as an elector under 37
Section 23-15-33 * * *; and 38
(e) * * * Has never been convicted of vote fraud or of 39
any crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 40
1890 * * *. 41
If the thirtieth day to register before an election falls on 42
a Sunday or legal holiday, the registration applications submitted 43
on the business day immediately following the Sunday or legal 44
holiday shall be accepted and entered in the Statewide Elections 45
Management System for the purpose of enabling voters to vote in 46
the next election. 47
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(2) A person who has been convicted of vote fraud, of any 48
crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, or 49
of any crime interpreted as disenfranchising in later Attorney 50
General or judicial opinions and is otherwise a qualified elector 51
under subsection (1) of this section, shall have his or her right 52
to vote suspended upon conviction but shall have his or her right 53
to vote automatically restored once he or she has satisfied all of 54
the sentencing requirements of the conviction. 55
(3) Any person who will be eighteen (18) years of age or 56
older on or before the date of the general election and who is 57
duly registered to vote not less than thirty (30) days before the 58
primary election associated with the general election, may vote in 59
the primary election even though the person has not reached his or 60
her eighteenth birthday at the time that the person seeks to vote 61
at the primary election. 62
(4) No others than those specified in this section shall be 63
entitled, or shall be allowed, to vote at any election. 64
SECTION 4. Section 23-15-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 65
amended as follows: 66
23-15-19. Any person who has been convicted of vote 67
fraud * * *, any crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi 68
Constitution of 1890, or of any crime interpreted as 69
disenfranchising in later Attorney General or judicial opinions, 70
such crimes defined as "disenfranchising," shall * * * have his or 71
her right to vote suspended upon conviction but shall have his or 72
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her right to vote automatically restored once he or she has 73
satisfied all of the sentencing requirements of the conviction 74
unless the person is otherwise a disqualified elector under 75
Section 23-15-11. Whenever any person shall be convicted in the 76
circuit court of his or her county of a disenfranchising crime, 77
the county registrar shall thereupon remove his or her name from 78
the Statewide Elections Management System * * * until he or she 79
has satisfied all of the sentencing requirements of the 80
conviction. Whenever any person shall be convicted of a 81
disenfranchising crime in any other court of any county, the 82
presiding judge of the court shall, on demand, certify the fact in 83
writing to the registrar of the county in which the voter resides, 84
who shall * * * remove the name of the person from the Statewide 85
Elections Management System and retain the certificate as a record 86
of his or her office until he or she has satisfied all of the 87
sentencing requirements of the conviction. 88
SECTION 5. Section 23-15-125, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 89
amended as follows: 90
23-15-125. The pollbook of each voting precinct shall 91
designate the voting precinct for which it is to be used, and 92
shall be ruled in appropriate columns, with printed or written 93
headings, as follows: date of registration; voter registration 94
number; name of electors; date of birth; and a number of blank 95
columns for the dates of elections. All qualified applicants who 96
register with the registrar shall be entered in the Statewide 97
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Elections Management System. Only the names of those qualified 98
applicants who register within thirty (30) days before an election 99
shall appear on the pollbooks of the election; however, if the 100
thirtieth day to register before an election falls on a Sunday or 101
legal holiday, the registration applications submitted on the 102
business day immediately following the legal holiday shall be 103
accepted and entered in the Statewide Elections Management System 104
for the purpose of enabling voters to vote in the next election. 105
When county election commissioners determine that any elector is 106
disqualified from voting, by reason of death, conviction of a 107
disenfranchising crime, removal from the jurisdiction, failure to 108
comply with the provisions of Section 23-15-152, or other legal 109
cause, that fact shall be noted in the Statewide Elections 110
Management System and the voter's name shall be purged from the 111
Statewide Elections Management System, the state's voter roll and 112
the county's pollbooks. Nothing in this section shall preclude 113
the use of electronic pollbooks. A person who has been convicted 114
of vote fraud, of any crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi 115
Constitution of 1890, or of any crime interpreted as 116
disenfranchising in later Attorney General or judicial opinions 117
and is otherwise a qualified elector under the provisions of 118
Section 23-15-11, shall have his or her right to vote suspended 119
upon conviction. The person shall have his or her right to vote 120
automatically restored once he or she has satisfied all of the 121
sentencing requirements of the conviction. Once the person has 122
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satisfied all of the sentencing requirements of the conviction, 123
the voter's name shall be automatically restored into the 124
Statewide Elections Management System, the state's voter roll and 125
the county's pollbooks. 126
SECTION 6. Section 23-15-151, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 127
amended as follows: 128
23-15-151. The circuit clerk of each county is authorized 129
and directed to prepare and keep in his or her office a full and 130
complete list, in alphabetical order, of persons convicted of 131
voter fraud * * *, of any crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi 132
Constitution of 1890 or of any crime interpreted as 133
disenfranchising in later Attorney General or judicial opinions. 134
A certified copy of any enrollment by one clerk to another will be 135
sufficient authority for the enrollment of the name, or names, in 136
another county. A list of persons convicted of voter fraud, any 137
crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, or 138
any crime interpreted as disenfranchising in later Attorney 139
General or judicial opinions, shall also be entered into the 140
Statewide Elections Management System on a quarterly basis. * * * 141
A person who has been convicted of vote fraud, of any crime listed 142
in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, or of any crime 143
interpreted as disenfranchising in later Attorney General or 144
judicial opinions and is otherwise a qualified elector under the 145
provisions of Section 23-15-11, shall have his or her right to 146
vote suspended upon conviction but shall have his or her right to 147
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vote automatically restored once he or she has satisfied all of 148
the sentencing requirements of the conviction. Once the person 149
has satisfied all of the sentencing requirements of the 150
conviction, the voter's name shall be automatically restored into 151
the Statewide Elections Management System, the state's voter roll 152
and the county's pollbooks. 153
SECTION 7. Section 23-15-153, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 154
amended as follows: 155
23-15-153. (1) At least during the following times, the 156
election commissioners shall meet at the office of the registrar 157
or the office of the election commissioners to carefully revise 158
the county voter roll as electronically maintained by the 159
Statewide Elections Management System and remove from the roll the 160
names of all voters who have requested to be purged from the voter 161
roll, died, received an adjudication of non compos mentis, been 162
convicted of a disenfranchising crime and had his or her right to 163
vote suspended, failed to comply with the provisions of Section 164
23-15-152, or otherwise become disqualified as electors for any 165
cause, and shall register the names of all persons who have duly 166
applied to be registered but have been illegally denied 167
registration: 168
(a) On the Tuesday after the second Monday in January 169
1987 and every following year; 170
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(b) On the first Tuesday in the month immediately 171
preceding the first primary election for members of Congress in 172
the years when members of Congress are elected; 173
(c) On the first Monday in the month immediately 174
preceding the first primary election for state, state district 175
legislative, county and county district offices in the years in 176
which those offices are elected; and 177
(d) On the second Monday of September preceding the 178
general election or regular special election day in years in which 179
a general election is not conducted. 180
Except for the names of those voters who are duly qualified 181
to vote in the election, no name shall be permitted to remain in 182
the Statewide Elections Management System; however, no name shall 183
be purged from the Statewide Elections Management System based on 184
a change in the residence of an elector except in accordance with 185
procedures provided for by the National Voter Registration Act of 186
1993 and as provided in Section 23-15-152. Except as otherwise 187
provided by Section 23-15-573, no person shall vote at any 188
election whose name is not in the county voter roll electronically 189
maintained by the Statewide Elections Management System. 190
(2) Except as provided in this section, and subject to the 191
following annual limitations, the election commissioners shall be 192
entitled to receive a per diem in the amount of One Hundred Ten 193
Dollars ($110.00), to be paid from the county general fund, for 194
every day or period of no less than five (5) hours accumulated 195
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over two (2) or more days actually employed in the performance of 196
their duties in the conduct of an election or actually employed in 197
the performance of their duties for the necessary time spent in 198
the revision of the county voter roll as electronically maintained 199
by the Statewide Elections Management System as required in 200
subsection (1) of this section: 201
(a) In counties having less than fifteen thousand 202
(15,000) residents according to the latest federal decennial 203
census, not more than fifty (50) days per year, with no more than 204
fifteen (15) additional days allowed for the conduct of each 205
election in excess of one (1) occurring in any calendar year; 206
(b) In counties having fifteen thousand (15,000) 207
residents according to the latest federal decennial census but 208
less than thirty thousand (30,000) residents according to the 209
latest federal decennial census, not more than seventy-five (75) 210
days per year, with no more than twenty-five (25) additional days 211
allowed for the conduct of each election in excess of one (1) 212
occurring in any calendar year; 213
(c) In counties having thirty thousand (30,000) 214
residents according to the latest federal decennial census but 215
less than seventy thousand (70,000) residents according to the 216
latest federal decennial census, not more than one hundred (100) 217
days per year, with no more than thirty-five (35) additional days 218
allowed for the conduct of each election in excess of one (l) 219
occurring in any calendar year; 220
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(d) In counties having seventy thousand (70,000) 221
residents according to the latest federal decennial census but 222
less than ninety thousand (90,000) residents according to the 223
latest federal decennial census, not more than one hundred 224
twenty-five (125) days per year, with no more than forty-five (45) 225
additional days allowed for the conduct of each election in excess 226
of one (1) occurring in any calendar year; 227
(e) In counties having ninety thousand (90,000) 228
residents according to the latest federal decennial census but 229
less than one hundred seventy thousand (170,000) residents 230
according to the latest federal decennial census, not more than 231
one hundred fifty (150) days per year, with no more than 232
fifty-five (55) additional days allowed for the conduct of each 233
election in excess of one (1) occurring in any calendar year; 234
(f) In counties having one hundred seventy thousand 235
(170,000) residents according to the latest federal decennial 236
census but less than two hundred thousand (200,000) residents 237
according to the latest federal decennial census, not more than 238
one hundred seventy-five (175) days per year, with no more than 239
sixty-five (65) additional days allowed for the conduct of each 240
election in excess of one (1) occurring in any calendar year; 241
(g) In counties having two hundred thousand (200,000) 242
residents according to the latest federal decennial census but 243
less than two hundred twenty-five thousand (225,000) residents 244
according to the latest federal decennial census, not more than 245
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one hundred ninety (190) days per year, with no more than 246
seventy-five (75) additional days allowed for the conduct of each 247
election in excess of one (l) occurring in any calendar year; 248
(h) In counties having two hundred twenty-five thousand 249
(225,000) residents according to the latest federal decennial 250
census but less than two hundred fifty thousand (250,000) 251
residents according to the latest federal decennial census, not 252
more than two hundred fifteen (215) days per year, with no more 253
than eighty-five (85) additional days allowed for the conduct of 254
each election in excess of one (1) occurring in any calendar year; 255
(i) In counties having two hundred fifty thousand 256
(250,000) residents according to the latest federal decennial 257
census but less than two hundred seventy-five thousand (275,000) 258
residents according to the latest federal decennial census, not 259
more than two hundred thirty (230) days per year, with no more 260
than ninety-five (95) additional days allowed for the conduct of 261
each election in excess of one (1) occurring in any calendar year; 262
(j) In counties having two hundred seventy-five 263
thousand (275,000) residents according to the latest federal 264
decennial census or more, not more than two hundred forty (240) 265
days per year, with no more than one hundred five (105) additional 266
days allowed for the conduct of each election in excess of one (l) 267
occurring in any calendar year. 268
(3) In addition to the number of days authorized in 269
subsection (2) of this section, the board of supervisors of a 270
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county may authorize, in its discretion, the election 271
commissioners to receive a per diem in the amount provided for in 272
subsection (2) of this section, to be paid from the county general 273
fund, for every day or period of no less than five (5) hours 274
accumulated over two (2) or more days actually employed in the 275
performance of their duties in the conduct of an election or 276
actually employed in the performance of their duties for the 277
necessary time spent in the revision of the county voter roll as 278
electronically maintained by the Statewide Elections Management 279
System as required in subsection (1) of this section, not to 280
exceed five (5) days. 281
(4) (a) The election commissioners shall be entitled to 282
receive a per diem in the amount of One Hundred Ten Dollars 283
($110.00), to be paid from the county general fund, not to exceed 284
ten (10) days for every day or period of no less than five (5) 285
hours accumulated over two (2) or more days actually employed in 286
the performance of their duties for the necessary time spent in 287
the revision of the county voter roll as electronically maintained 288
by the Statewide Elections Management System before any special 289
election. For purposes of this paragraph, the regular special 290
election day shall not be considered a special election. The 291
annual limitations set forth in subsection (2) of this section 292
shall not apply to this paragraph. 293
(b) The election commissioners shall be entitled to 294
receive a per diem in the amount of One Hundred Sixty-five Dollars 295
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($165.00), to be paid from the county general fund, for the 296
performance of their duties on the day of any primary, runoff, 297
general or special election; however, the board of supervisors 298
may, in its discretion, pay the election commissioners an 299
additional amount not to exceed Thirty-five Dollars ($35.00) per 300
election. The annual limitations set forth in subsection (2) of 301
this section shall apply to this paragraph. 302
(5) The election commissioners shall be entitled to receive 303
a per diem in the amount of One Hundred Ten Dollars ($110.00), to 304
be paid from the county general fund, not to exceed fourteen (14) 305
days for every day or period of no less than five (5) hours 306
accumulated over two (2) or more days actually employed in the 307
performance of their duties for the necessary time spent in the 308
revision of the county voter roll as electronically maintained by 309
the Statewide Elections Management System and in the conduct of a 310
runoff election following either a general or special election. 311
(6) The election commissioners shall be entitled to receive 312
only one (1) per diem payment for those days when the election 313
commissioners discharge more than one (1) duty or responsibility 314
on the same day. 315
(7) The election commissioners shall be entitled to receive 316
a per diem in the amount of One Hundred Ten Dollars ($110.00), to 317
be paid from the county general fund, not to exceed five (5) days 318
for every day or period of no less than five (5) hours accumulated 319
over two (2) or more days for those days when the election 320
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commissioners shall be required to conduct an audit of an election 321
as provided in Section 23-15-615. 322
(8) In preparation for a municipal primary, runoff, general 323
or special election, the county registrar shall generate and 324
distribute the master voter roll and pollbooks from the Statewide 325
Elections Management System for the municipality located within 326
the county. The municipality shall pay the county registrar for 327
the actual cost of preparing and printing the municipal master 328
voter roll pollbooks. A municipality may secure "read only" 329
access to the Statewide Elections Management System and print its 330
own pollbooks using this information. 331
(9) County election commissioners who perform the duties of 332
an executive committee with regard to the conduct of a primary 333
election under a written agreement authorized by law to be entered 334
into with an executive committee shall receive per diem as 335
provided for in subsection (2) of this section. The days that 336
county election commissioners are employed in the conduct of a 337
primary election shall be treated the same as days county election 338
commissioners are employed in the conduct of other elections. 339
(10) In addition to any per diem authorized by this section, 340
any election commissioner shall be entitled to the mileage 341
reimbursement rate allowable to federal employees for the use of a 342
privately owned vehicle while on official travel on election day. 343
(11) Every election commissioner shall sign personally a 344
certification setting forth the number of hours actually worked in 345
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the performance of the commissioner's official duties and for 346
which the commissioner seeks compensation. The certification must 347
be on a form as prescribed in this subsection. The commissioner's 348
signature is, as a matter of law, made under the commissioner's 349
oath of office and under penalties of perjury. 350
The certification form shall be as follows: 351
COUNTY ELECTION COMMISSIONER 352
PER DIEM CLAIM FORM 353
NAME: ____________________________ COUNTY: _______________ 354
ADDRESS: _________________________ DISTRICT: _____________ 355
CITY: ______________ ZIP: ________ 356
PURPOSE APPLICABLE ACTUAL PER DIEM 357
DATE BEGINNING ENDING OF MS CODE HOURS DAYS 358
WORKED TIME TIME WORK SECTION WORKED EARNED 359
________________________________________________________________ 360
________________________________________________________________ 361
________________________________________________________________ 362
TOTAL NUMBER OF PER DIEM DAYS EARNED 363
EXCLUDING ELECTION DAYS ________ 364
PER DIEM RATE PER DAY EARNED X $110.00 365
TOTAL NUMBER PER DIEM DAYS EARNED 366
FOR ELECTION DAYS ________ 367
PER DIEM RATE PER DAY EARNED X $165.00 368
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ELECTION DAY 369
DISCRETIONARY ADDITION(S) 370
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TO PER DIEM RATE PER DAY EARNED X $35.00 371
TOTAL AMOUNT OF PER DIEM CLAIMED $_______ 372
I understand that I am signing this document under my oath as 373
an election commissioner and under penalties of perjury. 374
I understand that I am requesting payment from taxpayer funds 375
and that I have an obligation to be specific and truthful as to 376
the amount of hours worked and the compensation I am requesting. 377
Signed this the _____ day of ______________, ____. 378
________________________ 379
Commissioner's Signature 380
When properly completed and signed, the certification must be 381
filed with the clerk of the county board of supervisors before any 382
payment may be made. The certification will be a public record 383
available for inspection and reproduction immediately upon the 384
oral or written request of any person. 385
Any person may contest the accuracy of the certification in 386
any respect by notifying the chair of the commission, any member 387
of the board of supervisors or the clerk of the board of 388
supervisors of the contest at any time before or after payment is 389
made. If the contest is made before payment is made, no payment 390
shall be made as to the contested certificate until the contest is 391
finally disposed of. The person filing the contest shall be 392
entitled to a full hearing, and the clerk of the board of 393
supervisors shall issue subpoenas upon request of the contestor 394
compelling the attendance of witnesses and production of documents 395
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and things. The contestor shall have the right to appeal de novo 396
to the circuit court of the involved county, which appeal must be 397
perfected within thirty (30) days from a final decision of the 398
commission, the clerk of the board of supervisors or the board of 399
supervisors, as the case may be. 400
Any contestor who successfully contests any certification 401
will be awarded all expenses incident to his or her contest, 402
together with reasonable attorney's fees, which will be awarded 403
upon petition to the chancery court of the involved county upon 404
final disposition of the contest before the election commission, 405
board of supervisors, clerk of the board of supervisors, or, in 406
case of an appeal, final disposition by the court. The 407
commissioner against whom the contest is decided shall be liable 408
for the payment of the expenses and attorney's fees, and the 409
county shall be jointly and severally liable for same. 410
(12) Any election commissioner who has not received a 411
certificate issued by the Secretary of State pursuant to Section 412
23-15-211 indicating that the election commissioner has received 413
the required elections seminar instruction and that the election 414
commissioner is fully qualified to conduct an election, shall not 415
receive any compensation authorized by this section or Section 416
23-15-239. 417
SECTION 8. Section 23-15-165, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 418
amended as follows: 419
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23-15-165. (1) The Office of the Secretary of State, in 420
cooperation with the county registrars and election commissioners, 421
shall procure, implement and maintain an electronic information 422
processing system and programs capable of maintaining a 423
centralized database of all registered voters in the state. The 424
system shall encompass software and hardware, at both the state 425
and county level, software development training, conversion and 426
support and maintenance for the system. The Secretary of State 427
shall equip the Statewide Elections Management System with 428
appropriate security measures to protect private information of 429
the registered voter and the integrity of Mississippi elections. 430
This system shall be known as the "Statewide Elections Management 431
System" and shall constitute the official record of registered 432
voters in every county of the state. 433
(2) The Office of the Secretary of State shall develop and 434
implement the Statewide Elections Management System so that the 435
registrar and election commissioners of each county shall: 436
(a) Verify that an applicant that is registering to 437
vote in that county is not registered to vote in another county; 438
(b) Be notified automatically that a registered voter 439
in its county has registered to vote in another county; 440
(c) Receive regular reports of death, changes of 441
address and convictions for disenfranchising crimes, which cause a 442
voter to have his or her right to vote suspended, that apply to 443
voters registered in the county; 444
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(d) Receive regular reports of voters who have 445
satisfied all of the sentencing requirements of his or her 446
conviction and automatically restore the voter's name into the 447
Statewide Elections Management System, the state's voter roll and 448
the county's pollbooks; 449
( * * *e) Retain all present functionality related to, 450
but not limited to, the use of voter roll data and to implement 451
such other functionality as the law requires to enhance the 452
maintenance of accurate county voter records and related jury 453
selection and redistricting programs; and 454
( * * *f) When evidence exists that a registered voter 455
may not be a citizen of the United States as provided in Section 456
23-15-15, send notification to the registrar of the location where 457
the person is registered to vote. 458
(3) As a part of the procurement and implementation of the 459
system, the Office of the Secretary of State shall, with the 460
assistance of the advisory committee, procure services necessary 461
to convert current voter registration records in the counties into 462
a standard, industry accepted file format that can be used on the 463
Statewide Elections Management System. Thereafter, all official 464
voter information shall be maintained on the Statewide Elections 465
Management System. The standard industry accepted format of data 466
was reviewed and approved by a majority of the advisory committee 467
created in subsection (5) of this section after consultation with 468
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the Circuit Clerks Association and the format may not be changed 469
without consulting the Circuit Clerks Association. 470
(4) The Secretary of State may, with the assistance of the 471
advisory committee, adopt rules and regulations necessary to 472
administer the Statewide Elections Management System. The rules 473
and regulations shall at least: 474
(a) Provide for the establishment and maintenance of a 475
centralized database for all voter registration information in the 476
state; 477
(b) Provide procedures for integrating data into the 478
centralized database; 479
(c) Provide security to ensure that only the registrar, 480
or his or her designee or other appropriate official, as the law 481
may require, can add information to, delete information from and 482
modify information in the system; 483
(d) Provide the registrar or his or her designee or 484
other appropriate official, as the law may require, access to the 485
system at all times, including the ability to download copies of 486
the industry standard file, for all purposes related to their 487
official duties, including, but not limited to, exclusive access 488
for the purpose of printing all local pollbooks; 489
(e) Provide security and protection of all information 490
in the system and monitor the system to ensure that unauthorized 491
access is not allowed; 492
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(f) Provide a procedure that will allow the registrar, 493
or his or her designee or other appropriate official, as the law 494
may require, to identify the precinct to which a voter should be 495
assigned; and 496
(g) Provide a procedure for phasing in or converting 497
existing manual and computerized voter registration systems in 498
counties to the Statewide Elections Management System. 499
(5) The Secretary of State established an advisory committee 500
to assist in developing system specifications, procurement, 501
implementation and maintenance of the Statewide Elections 502
Management System. The committee included two (2) representatives 503
from the Circuit Clerks Association, appointed by the association; 504
two (2) representatives from the Election Commissioners 505
Association of Mississippi, appointed by the association; one (1) 506
member of the Mississippi Association of Supervisors, or its 507
staff, appointed by the association; the Director of the Stennis 508
Institute of Government at Mississippi State University, or his or 509
her designee; the Executive Director of the Department of 510
Information Technology Services, or his or her designee; two (2) 511
persons knowledgeable about elections and information technology 512
appointed by the Secretary of State; and the Secretary of State, 513
who shall serve as the chair of the advisory committee. 514
(6) (a) Social security numbers, telephone numbers, email 515
addresses, and date of birth and age information in statewide, 516
district, county and municipal voter registration files shall be 517
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ST: Restoration of the Right to Vote Act;
enact.
exempt from and shall not be subject to inspection, examination, 518
copying or reproduction under the Mississippi Public Records Act 519
of 1983. 520
(b) Copies of statewide, district, county or municipal 521
voter registration files, excluding social security numbers, 522
telephone numbers, email addresses, and date of birth and age 523
information, shall be provided to any person in accordance with 524
the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983 at a cost not to exceed 525
the actual cost of production. 526
SECTION 9. This act shall take effect and be in force from 527
and after July 1, 2026. 528