Bill Text: MS HB1009 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Election commissioners; remove petition requirement to qualify to run for office.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2024-03-05 - Died In Committee [HB1009 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2024-HB1009-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2024 Regular Session
To: Apportionment and Elections
By: Representative Carpenter
House Bill 1009
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-213, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REMOVE THE REQUIREMENT THAT CANDIDATES FOR COUNTY ELECTION COMMISSIONER MUST FILE A PETITION PERSONALLY SIGNED BY NOT LESS THAN FIFTY QUALIFIED ELECTORS IN ORDER TO QUALIFY FOR OFFICE; TO PROVIDE THAT CANDIDATES FOR COUNTY ELECTION COMMISSIONER SHALL QUALIFY BY FILING WITH THE CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF THEIR RESPECTIVE COUNTIES A WRITTEN STATEMENT CONTAINING THE NAME AND ADDRESS OF THE CANDIDATE AND THE EMAIL ADDRESS OF THE CANDIDATE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 23-15-213, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-213. (1) There shall be elected five (5) election commissioners for each county whose terms of office shall commence on the first Monday of January following their election and who shall serve for a term of four (4) years. Each of the commissioners shall be required to attend a training seminar provided by the Secretary of State and satisfactorily complete a skills assessment, and before acting, shall take and subscribe the oath of office prescribed by the Constitution. The oath shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the chancery court. Upon filing the oath of office, the election commissioner may be provided access to the Statewide Elections Management System for the purpose of performing his or her duties. Such skills assessment shall only be required once every four (4) years. While engaged in their duties, the commissioners shall be conservators of the peace in the county, with all the duties and powers of such.
(2) (a) At the general election in 2024 and every four (4) years thereafter, the qualified electors of the board of supervisors' Districts One, Three and Five shall elect in their district one (1) election commissioner.
(b) At the general election in 2023 and every four (4) years thereafter, the qualified electors of the board of supervisors' Districts Two and Four shall elect in their district one (1) election commissioner.
(c) No more than one (1) commissioner shall be a resident of and reside in each supervisor's district of the county; it being the purpose of this section that the county board of election commissioners shall consist of one (1) person from each supervisor's district of the county and that each commissioner be elected from the supervisor's district in which he or she resides.
(3) Candidates for county election
commissioner shall qualify by filing with the clerk of the board of supervisors
of their respective counties * * * a written statement containing the name and
address of the candidate and the email address of the candidate, if any, by
5:00 p.m. not later than February 1 of the year in which the election occurs and
unless the * * *
statement is filed within the required time, their names shall not be placed
upon the ballot. All candidates shall declare in writing their party affiliation,
if any, to the board of supervisors, and such party affiliation shall be shown on
the official ballot.
(4) * * * If the * * *
statement is filed within the time required, the president of the board shall
verify that the candidate is a resident of the supervisor's district in which
he or she seeks election and that the candidate is otherwise qualified as provided
by law, and shall certify that the candidate is qualified to the chair or secretary
of the county election commission and the names of the candidates shall be placed
upon the ballot for the ensuing election. No county election commissioner shall
serve or be considered as elected until he or she has received a majority of the
votes cast for the position or post for which he or she is a candidate. If a majority
vote is not received in the first election, then the two (2) candidates receiving
the most votes for each position or post shall be placed upon the ballot for a second
election to be held three (3) weeks later in accordance with appropriate procedures
followed in other elections involving runoff candidates.
(5) In the first meeting in January of each year, the county election commissioners shall organize by electing a chair and a secretary, who shall serve a one-year term. The county election commissioners shall provide the names of the chair and secretary to the Secretary of State and provide notice of any change in officers which may occur during the year.
(6) It shall be the duty of the chair to have the official ballot printed and distributed at each general or special election.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024.
