Bill Text: MS HB11 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Special election; revise how a board of supervisors may call to fill a vacancy.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2012-03-06 - Died In Committee [HB11 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2012-HB11-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2012 Regular Session
To: Apportionment and Elections
By: Representative Beckett
House Bill 11
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-839, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE WHEN A COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MAY CALL A SPECIAL ELECTION TO FILL A VACANCY; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 23-15-833, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR PURPOSES OF AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 23-15-839, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-839. (1) When a vacancy shall occur in any county or county district office, the same shall be filled by appointment by the board of supervisors of the county, by order entered upon its minutes, where the vacancy occurs, or by appointment of the president of the board of supervisors, by and with the consent of the majority of the board of supervisors, if such vacancy occurs when the board is not in session, and the clerk of the board shall certify to the Secretary of State the fact of the appointment, and the person so appointed shall be commissioned by the Governor.
If the unexpired term is longer than six (6) months, such appointee shall serve until a successor is elected as * * * provided in this section. If the regular special election day on which the vacancy should be filled occurs in a year in which an election would normally be held for that office as provided by law, * * * the person so appointed may serve the unexpired portion of the term or the board of supervisors may within ten (10) days after the happening of the vacancy, make an order, in writing, directed to the commissioners of election, commanding a special election to fill the vacancy not less than ninety (90) days from the day of the vacancy or at the next regular special election day. Such vacancies shall be filled for the unexpired term by the qualified electors. The election commissioners shall require each candidate to qualify at least sixty (60) days before the date of the election, and shall give a certificate of election to the person elected, and shall return to the Secretary of State a copy of the order of holding the election, showing the results thereof, certified by the clerk of the board of supervisors. The person elected shall be commissioned by the Governor.
(2) In any election ordered pursuant to this section where only one (1) person shall have qualified with the commissioners of election to be a candidate within the time provided by law, the commissioners of election shall certify to the board of supervisors that there is but one (1) candidate. Thereupon, the board of supervisors shall dispense with the election and shall appoint the candidate so certified to fill the unexpired term. The clerk of the board shall certify to the Secretary of State the candidate so appointed to serve in the office and that the candidate shall be commissioned by the Governor. If no person shall have qualified by 5:00 p.m. sixty (60) days before the date of the election, the commissioners of election shall certify that fact to the board of supervisors which shall dispense with the election and fill the vacancy by appointment. The clerk of the board of supervisors shall certify to the Secretary of State the fact of the appointment, and the person so appointed shall be commissioned by the Governor.
SECTION 2. Section 23-15-833, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
23-15-833. Except as otherwise provided by law, the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each year shall be designated the regular special election day, and on that day an election shall be held to fill any vacancy in county, county district, and district attorney elective offices, and any vacancy in the office of circuit judge or chancellor.
All special elections, or elections to fill vacancies, shall in all respects be held, conducted and returned in the same manner as general elections, except that where no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast in such election, then a runoff election shall be held three (3) weeks after such election and the two (2) candidates who receive the highest popular votes for such office shall have their names submitted as such candidates to the said runoff and the candidate who leads in such runoff election shall be elected to the office. When there is a tie in the first election of those receiving the next highest vote, these two (2) and the one receiving the highest vote, none having received a majority, shall go into the runoff election and whoever leads in such runoff election shall be entitled to the office.
In those years when the regular special election day shall occur on the same day as the general election, the names of candidates in any special election and the general election shall be placed on the same ballot, but shall be clearly distinguished as general election candidates or special election candidates.
At any time a special election is held on the same day as a party primary election, the names of the candidates in the special election may be placed on the same ballot, but shall be clearly distinguished as special election candidates or primary election candidates.
SECTION 3. The Attorney General of the State of Mississippi shall submit this act, immediately upon approval by the Governor, or upon approval by the Legislature subsequent to a veto, to the Attorney General of the United States or to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in accordance with the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the date it is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.
