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To: Elections
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026
By: Senator(s) Williams, Blackmon
SENATE BILL NO. 2096
(As Sent to Governor)
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-165, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 1
TO REQUIRE THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION AND 2
TECHNOLOGY SERVICES TO ESTABLISH MINIMUM CYBERSECURITY STANDARDS 3
AND POLICIES IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR COUNTY 4
REGISTRARS AND ELECTION COMMISSIONERS; TO STIPULATE THAT SUCH 5
STANDARDS AND POLICIES AIM TO ENSURE THE INTEGRITY OF 6
MISSISSIPPI'S VOTER REGISTRATION AND ELECTION DATA IN THE 7
STATEWIDE ELECTIONS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM; TO REQUIRE SUCH POLICIES TO 8
BE ESTABLISHED NO LATER THAN JANUARY 1, 2027; TO PROVIDE FOR 9
ASSESSMENTS OF ADHERENCE TO THE POLICIES; TO REQUIRE 10
CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION; TO GRANT THE STATE AUDITOR'S 11
OFFICE AUTHORITY TO USE SUCH INFORMATION FOR AUDITING PURPOSES; TO 12
ALLOW MDITS AND THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO REQUEST RESULTS OF 13
INTERNAL ASSESSMENTS; TO PROVIDE FOR FAILURE TO MEET THE 14
ESTABLISHED CYBERSECURITY STANDARDS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 15
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 16
SECTION 1. Section 23-15-165, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 17
amended as follows: 18
23-15-165. (1) The Office of the Secretary of State, in 19
cooperation with the county registrars and election commissioners, 20
shall procure, implement and maintain an electronic information 21
processing system and programs capable of maintaining a 22
centralized database of all registered voters in the state. The 23
system shall encompass software and hardware, at both the state 24
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and county level, software development training, conversion and 25
support and maintenance for the system. The Secretary of State 26
shall equip the Statewide Elections Management System with 27
appropriate security measures to protect private information of 28
the registered voter and the integrity of Mississippi elections. 29
This system shall be known as the "Statewide Elections Management 30
System" and shall constitute the official record of registered 31
voters in every county of the state. 32
(2) The Office of the Secretary of State shall develop and 33
implement the Statewide Elections Management System so that the 34
registrar and election commissioners of each county shall: 35
(a) Verify that an applicant that is registering to 36
vote in that county is not registered to vote in another county; 37
(b) Be notified automatically that a registered voter 38
in its county has registered to vote in another county; 39
(c) Receive regular reports of death, changes of 40
address and convictions for disenfranchising crimes that apply to 41
voters registered in the county; 42
(d) Retain all present functionality related to, but 43
not limited to, the use of voter roll data and to implement such 44
other functionality as the law requires to enhance the maintenance 45
of accurate county voter records and related jury selection and 46
redistricting programs; and 47
(e) When evidence exists that a registered voter may 48
not be a citizen of the United States as provided in Section 49
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23-15-15, send notification to the registrar of the location where 50
the person is registered to vote. 51
(3) As a part of the procurement and implementation of the 52
system, the Office of the Secretary of State shall, with the 53
assistance of the advisory committee, procure services necessary 54
to convert current voter registration records in the counties into 55
a standard, industry accepted file format that can be used on the 56
Statewide Elections Management System. Thereafter, all official 57
voter information shall be maintained on the Statewide Elections 58
Management System. The standard industry accepted format of data 59
was reviewed and approved by a majority of the advisory committee 60
created in subsection (5) of this section after consultation with 61
the Circuit Clerks Association and the format may not be changed 62
without consulting the Circuit Clerks Association. 63
(4) The Secretary of State may, with the assistance of the 64
advisory committee, adopt rules and regulations necessary to 65
administer the Statewide Elections Management System. The rules 66
and regulations shall at least: 67
(a) Provide for the establishment and maintenance of a 68
centralized database for all voter registration information in the 69
state; 70
(b) Provide procedures for integrating data into the 71
centralized database; 72
(c) Provide security to ensure that only the registrar, 73
or his or her designee or other appropriate official, as the law 74
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may require, can add information to, delete information from and 75
modify information in the system; 76
(d) Provide the registrar or his or her designee or 77
other appropriate official, as the law may require, access to the 78
system at all times, including the ability to download copies of 79
the industry standard file, for all purposes related to their 80
official duties, including, but not limited to, exclusive access 81
for the purpose of printing all local pollbooks; 82
(e) Provide security and protection of all information 83
in the system and monitor the system to ensure that unauthorized 84
access is not allowed; 85
(f) Provide a procedure that will allow the registrar, 86
or his or her designee or other appropriate official, as the law 87
may require, to identify the precinct to which a voter should be 88
assigned; and 89
(g) Provide a procedure for phasing in or converting 90
existing manual and computerized voter registration systems in 91
counties to the Statewide Elections Management System. 92
(5) The Secretary of State established an advisory committee 93
to assist in developing system specifications, procurement, 94
implementation and maintenance of the Statewide Elections 95
Management System. The committee included two (2) representatives 96
from the Circuit Clerks Association, appointed by the association; 97
two (2) representatives from the Election Commissioners 98
Association of Mississippi, appointed by the association; one (1) 99
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member of the Mississippi Association of Supervisors, or its 100
staff, appointed by the association; the Director of the Stennis 101
Institute of Government at Mississippi State University, or his or 102
her designee; the Executive Director of the Department of 103
Information Technology Services, or his or her designee; two (2) 104
persons knowledgeable about elections and information technology 105
appointed by the Secretary of State; and the Secretary of State, 106
who shall serve as the chair of the advisory committee. 107
(6) (a) Social security numbers, telephone numbers, email 108
addresses, and date of birth and age information in statewide, 109
district, county and municipal voter registration files shall be 110
exempt from and shall not be subject to inspection, examination, 111
copying or reproduction under the Mississippi Public Records Act 112
of 1983. 113
(b) Copies of statewide, district, county or municipal 114
voter registration files, excluding social security numbers, 115
telephone numbers, email addresses, and date of birth and age 116
information, shall be provided to any person in accordance with 117
the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983 at a cost not to exceed 118
the actual cost of production. 119
(7) The Department of Information and Technology Services, 120
in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall establish 121
mandatory minimum cybersecurity standards and policies for county 122
registrars and election commissioners to ensure the integrity of 123
Mississippi's voter registration and election data when accessing 124
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or exporting information from the Statewide Elections Management 125
System. 126
(a) The Department of Information and Technology 127
Services shall establish such minimum cybersecurity standards and 128
policies no later than January 1, 2027. Such cybersecurity 129
standards and policies shall also include assessments of the 130
county registrar and election commissioners of adherence to the 131
cybersecurity standards and policies. 132
(b) The results of the assessments are confidential and 133
exempt from public inspection, except that the information must be 134
available to the Office of the State Auditor in performing 135
auditing duties. The results of the internal assessments must 136
also be made available to the Department of Information and 137
Technology Services and the Secretary of State upon request. 138
(c) (i) Until January 1, 2028, if an internal 139
assessment finds the county registrar or election commissioners 140
have failed to meet the established cybersecurity standards and 141
procedures, the county registrar or election commissioners shall 142
have a period of six (6) months to resolve the issues and become 143
compliant. After the expiration of the period of six (6) months, 144
the county registrar or election commissioners shall undergo a new 145
internal assessment to determine if the issues have been resolved. 146
If the second internal assessment finds the county registrar or 147
election commissioners remain noncompliant with the established 148
cybersecurity standards and procedures, the county shall have its 149
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ST: MDITS and SOS; require to establish minimum
cybersecurity standards for SEMS.
use of monies from the Election Support Fund established in 150
Section 23-15-5 limited in the same manner as provided in 151
subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph (c). 152
(ii) Beginning on January 1, 2028, any county in 153
which an internal assessment finds the county registrar or 154
election commissioners fail to meet the established cybersecurity 155
standards and procedures shall have their use of Election Support 156
Fund monies limited to ensuring compliance with the established 157
cybersecurity standards and procedures. The Secretary of State 158
shall notify the Board of Supervisors of the limitation placed on 159
the county's Election Support Fund monies and shall provide the 160
Office of the State Auditor with a copy of the notice. Once 161
compliance with the established cybersecurity standards and 162
procedures has been determined, the Secretary of State shall 163
notify the Board of Supervisors and the Office of the State 164
Auditor that the limitation of Election Support Fund monies is no 165
longer in effect. 166
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from 167
and after July 1, 2026. 168