Bill Text: MS HB1176 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Presidential election; prohibit release of popular vote until after meeting of electors in the states.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2021-02-02 - Died In Committee [HB1176 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2021-HB1176-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2021 Regular Session
To: Apportionment and Elections
By: Representative Currie
House Bill 1176
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-785, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT NO OFFICER, EMPLOYEE, OR CONTRACTOR OF THIS STATE OR ITS POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS SHALL PUBLICLY RELEASE THE NUMBER OF VOTES CAST IN THE GENERAL ELECTION FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES UNTIL AFTER THE TIME SET BY LAW FOR THE MEETING AND VOTING OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS HAS PASSED IN ALL STATES; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 23-15-787 AND 23-15-789, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR THE PURPOSE OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 23-15-785, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-785. (1) When presidential electors are to be chosen, the Secretary of State of Mississippi shall certify to the circuit clerks of the several counties the names of all candidates for President and Vice President who are nominated by any national convention or other like assembly of any political party or by written petition signed by at least one thousand (1,000) qualified voters of this state.
(2) The certificate of nomination by a political party convention must be signed by the presiding officer and secretary of the convention and by the chairman of the state executive committee of the political party making the nomination. Any nominating petition, to be valid, must contain the signatures as well as the addresses of the petitioners. The certificates and petitions must be filed with the State Board of Election Commissioners by filing them in the Office of the Secretary of State by 5:00 p.m. not less than sixty (60) days previous to the day of the election.
(3) Each certificate of nomination and nominating petition must be accompanied by a list of the names and addresses of persons, who shall be qualified voters of this state, equal in number to the number of presidential electors to be chosen. Each person so listed shall execute the following statement which shall be attached to the certificate or petition when it is filed with the State Board of Election Commissioners: "I do hereby consent and do hereby agree to serve as elector for President and Vice President of the United States, if elected to that position, and do hereby agree that, if so elected, I shall cast my ballot as such for ______ for President and _______ for Vice President of the United States" (inserting in said blank spaces the respective names of the persons named as nominees for said respective offices in the certificate to which this statement is attached).
(4) The State Board of Election Commissioners and any other official charged with the preparation of official ballots shall place on such official ballots the words "PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS FOR (here insert the name of the candidate for President, the word 'AND' and the name of the candidate for Vice President)" in lieu of placing the names of such presidential electors on the official ballots, and a vote cast therefor shall be counted and shall be in all respects effective as a vote for each of the presidential electors representing those candidates for President and Vice President of the United States. In the case of unpledged electors, the State Board of Election Commissioners and any other official charged with the preparation of official ballots shall place on such official ballots the words "UNPLEDGED ELECTOR(S) (here insert the name(s) of individual unpledged elector(s) if placed upon the ballot based upon a petition granted in the manner provided by law stating the individual name(s) of the elector(s) rather than a slate of electors)."
(5) (a) No officer, employee, or contractor of this state or its political subdivisions shall publicly release the
number of votes cast in the general election for president of the United States until after the time set by law for the meeting and voting of presidential electors has passed in all states.
(b) The secretary of state may release, as soon as the information becomes available, the percentage of statewide votes cast for each presidential candidate to the nearest tenth of a
percentage point, a list of presidential candidates in order of increasing or decreasing percentage totals, and the winner of the election. The secretary of state may also release partial results prior to receiving results from all voting districts, and in such case may release the percentage of the state's registered voters represented by those voting districts.
SECTION 2. Section 23-15-787, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
23-15-787. The Secretary of State shall, immediately after ascertaining the result, transmit by mail a notice, in writing, to the persons elected.
SECTION 3. Section 23-15-789, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
23-15-789. The electors chosen shall meet at the seat of government of the state on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December next following their election, and shall there give their votes for President and Vice President of the United States, and shall make return thereof agreeably to the laws of the United States; and should any elector so chosen fail to attend and give his vote, the other electors attending shall appoint some person or persons to fill the vacancy or vacancies, who shall attend and vote as electors; and such appointment shall be forthwith reported to the Secretary of State.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after such time that states cumulatively possessing a majority of the electoral votes have enacted the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact in substantially the same form and the enactments by such states have taken effect in each such state.
