Bill Text: MS HB1661 | 2026 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: State Suffrage Restoration Panel; create as an alternate process to having right to vote restored.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Failed) 2026-02-03 - Died In Committee [HB1661 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2026-HB1661-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2026 Regular Session
To: Apportionment and Elections
By: Representative Sanford
House Bill 1661
AN ACT TO CREATE THE STATE SUFFRAGE RESTORATION PANEL; TO ESTABLISH AN ALTERNATE METHOD TO THAT PROVIDED BY SECTION 253 OF THE MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890 FOR THE RIGHT TO VOTE TO BE RESTORED TO ELIGIBLE PERSONS CONVICTED OF CERTAIN CRIMES; TO PRESCRIBE THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE PANEL; TO ESTABLISH CRITERIA FOR A PERSON TO BE GRANTED A CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY TO REGISTER TO VOTE; TO PROVIDE THE PROCESS BY WHICH THE PANEL CONSIDERS AN APPLICATION FOR A CERTIFICATE; TO CLARIFY THAT A PERSON MAY STILL SEEK TO HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE RESTORED THROUGH THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS; TO REQUIRE JAILS AND CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES TO POST MATERIALS ABOUT PROCEDURES TO HAVING ONE'S RIGHT TO VOTE RESTORED; TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-11, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT PERSONS GRANTED A CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY TO REGISTER TO VOTE ARE ELIGIBLE TO VOTE; TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-19, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE QUALIFIED PERSONS GRANTED A CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY TO REGISTER TO VOTE TO BE REGISTERED; TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-33, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE REGISTRAR TO REGISTER QUALIFIED PERSONS WHO PRESENT A CERTIFICATE OF ELIGIBILITY TO REGISTER TO VOTE; TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-151, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. (1) (a) There is created the State Suffrage Restoration Panel. The purpose of the panel is to create an alternate method to that provided by Section 253, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, for a person to be restored the right to vote after having been disenfranchised following a criminal conviction.
(b) The State Suffrage Restoration Panel shall be comprised of the following five (5) members:
(i) One (1) person appointed by the Governor, to serve an initial term of five (5) years;
(ii) One (1) person appointed by the Lieutenant Governor, to serve an initial term of four (4) years;
(iii) One (1) person appointed by the Governor from a list of three (3) nominees submitted by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to serve an initial term of three (3) years;
(iv) A representative of the Mississippi Prosecutors Association selected by the association, to serve an initial term of two (2) years; and
(v) A representative of the Mississippi Public Defender Association selected by the association, to serve an initial term of one (1) year.
(c) Upon the expiration of the initial terms, members of the State Suffrage Restoration Panel shall serve a term of five (5) years.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person who is otherwise a qualified elector under Section 23-15-11 who has been convicted of a crime listed in paragraph (a) of this subsection may apply to the State Suffrage Restoration Panel for a Certificate of Eligibility to Register to Vote if all of the following requirements are met:
(a) The person has lost the right to vote by reason of conviction in a state or federal court of:
(i) Vote fraud;
(ii) A crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890;
(iii) A crime interpreted as disenfranchising in Attorney General opinions; or
(iv) Arson of an uninhabited structure;
(b) The person has no criminal felony charges pending against him or her in a state or federal court at the time of application;
(c) The person has been released for five (5) or more years and has had no other convictions, other than misdemeanor traffic violations, since being released;
(d) The person has paid all fines, court costs, assessments, fees and victim restitution ordered by the sentencing court at the time of sentencing; and
(e) The person has successfully completed probation or parole and has been released by the ordering entity.
(3) Upon receipt of an application under this section, the State Suffrage Restoration Panel shall cause an investigation into the application to be conducted. The investigation must include a review of court records, records of the correctional system and records of the parole entity to establish that the applicant has met the qualifications set out in subsection (2). An initial report detailing the findings of the investigation shall be prepared, including a statement as to whether the applicant has successfully completed his or her sentence and has complied with all eligibility requirements prescribed in subsection (2), and submitted to all members of the State Suffrage Restoration Panel for consideration.
(4) Upon receiving the report confirming a person's eligibility for a Certificate of Eligibility, the State Suffrage Restoration Panel shall provide notice to the sheriff and district attorney in the county in which the conviction occurred that the applicant has requested a Certificate of Eligibility to Register to Vote. The panel also shall accept and consider letters written in support of and opposition to the person's application with attention given to factors such as the person's conduct and productive reintegration into society since his or her release.
(5) If, after considering the report and any additional information brought to the attention of the panel, it is clear that the applicant has met the requirements of this section and good cause does not exist to deny the applicant's request, the State Suffrage Restoration Panel shall cause a Certificate of Eligibility to Register to Vote to be prepared and presented to the applicant.
(6) In making a final determination on an applicant's eligibility for a certificate, the panel is not required to convene an in-person meeting of the full membership of the panel; however, upon the request of one or more members of the panel, the application must be considered by the full panel at a meeting during which, in the panel's discretion, interested persons may be heard on the application.
(7) If the initial report created pursuant to subsection (3) states that an applicant has not met all of the eligibility criteria set forth in subsection (2), but the report was submitted properly and accurately, the panel may not issue the Certificate of Eligibility to Register to Vote. The panel shall notify the applicant of the decision and reason or reasons for the decision. Upon completion of the eligibility requirements, the applicant may submit a new application.
(8) The State Suffrage Restoration Panel shall adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this section. The panel may create an application form to assist applicants in the preparation and submission of applications. The rules shall prescribe timeframes for completion of the initial review of, and rendering a final decision on, an application.
(9) This section does not affect the right of any person to seek to have his or her voting rights restored in the manner provided in Section 253 of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890.
(10) Each state or county correctional facility, prison or jail shall post materials prepared by the State Suffrage Restoration Panel notifying incarcerated individuals of the requirements and procedures for having one's voting rights restored.
SECTION 2. Section 23-15-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-11. (1) Every inhabitant of this state, except persons adjudicated to be non compos mentis, is a qualified elector in and for the county, municipality and voting precinct of his or her residence and is entitled to vote at any election upon compliance with Section 23-15-563, if he or she:
(a) * * * Is a citizen of the United States of
America * * *;
(b) Is eighteen (18) years old and upwards;
(c) * * * Has resided in this state for thirty (30)
days and for thirty (30) days in the county in which he or she seeks to vote,
and for thirty (30) days in the incorporated municipality in which he or she
seeks to vote * * *;
(d) * * * Has been duly registered as an elector
under Section 23-15-33 * * *;
and
(e) * * * Has never been convicted of vote fraud or
of any crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890 * * *.
If the thirtieth day to register before an election falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, the registration applications submitted on the business day immediately following the Sunday or legal holiday shall be accepted and entered in the Statewide Elections Management System for the purpose of enabling voters to vote in the next election.
(2) A person who is otherwise a qualified elector under subsection (1) who has been convicted of a disenfranchising crime shall have his or her right to vote automatically restored once he or she has been granted a Certificate of Eligibility to Register to Vote under Section 1 of this act.
(3) Any person who will be eighteen (18) years of age or older on or before the date of the general election and who is duly registered to vote not less than thirty (30) days before the primary election associated with the general election, may vote in the primary election even though the person has not reached his or her eighteenth birthday at the time that the person seeks to vote at the primary election. No others than those specified in this section shall be entitled, or shall be allowed, to vote at any election.
SECTION 3. Section 23-15-19, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-19. (1) Any person who has been convicted of vote fraud or any crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, such crimes defined as "disenfranchising," shall not be registered, or if registered the name of the person shall be removed from the Statewide Elections Management System by the registrar or the election commissioners of the county of his or her residence. Whenever any person shall be convicted in the circuit court of his or her county of a disenfranchising crime, the county registrar shall thereupon remove his or her name from the Statewide Elections Management System; and whenever any person shall be convicted of a disenfranchising crime in any other court of any county, the presiding judge of the court shall, on demand, certify the fact in writing to the registrar of the county in which the voter resides, who shall thereupon remove the name of the person from the Statewide Elections Management System and retain the certificate as a record of his or her office.
(2) A person who has been convicted of a disenfranchising crime shall have his or her right to vote automatically restored once he or she has been granted a Certificate of Eligibility to Register to Vote under Section 1 of this act.
SECTION 4. Section 23-15-33, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
(2) Every person entitled to be registered as an elector in compliance with the laws of this state and who registers to vote pursuant to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 shall be registered by the county registrar in the voting precinct of the residence of such person through the Statewide Elections Management System.
(3) Every person granted a Certificate of Eligibility to Register to Vote under Section 1 of this act who is entitled to be registered as an elector in compliance with the laws of this state and who has signed his or her name on and properly completed the application for registration to vote shall be registered by the county registrar in the voting precinct of the residence of such person through the Statewide Elections Management System.
SECTION 5. Section 23-15-151, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-151. The circuit clerk of each county is authorized and directed to prepare and keep in his or her office a full and complete list, in alphabetical order, of persons convicted of voter fraud or of any crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890. A certified copy of any enrollment by one clerk to another will be sufficient authority for the enrollment of the name, or names, in another county. A list of persons convicted of voter fraud, any crime listed in Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, or any crime interpreted as disenfranchising in later Attorney General opinions, shall also be entered into the Statewide Elections Management System on a quarterly basis. Voters who have been convicted in a Mississippi state court of any disenfranchising crime and who have not registered to vote subsequent to being granted a Certificate of Eligibility to Register to Vote are not qualified electors as defined by Section 23-15-11 and shall be purged or otherwise removed by the county registrar or county election commissioners from the Statewide Elections Management System.
SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1 in the year following the year in which the Secretary of State certifies the passage of the constitutional amendment proposed in House Concurrent Resolution No. ___, 2026 Regular Session.
