Bill Text: MS HB251 | 2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Election Contest; clarify procedure that governs for party nominees.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2017-01-31 - Died In Committee [HB251 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2017-HB251-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2017 Regular Session
To: Apportionment and Elections; Judiciary A
By: Representative Perkins
House Bill 251
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-961, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY WHICH PROVISION OF LAW REGULATES ELECTION CONTESTS OF PARTY NOMINEES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 23-15-961, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-961. (1) Any person desiring to contest the qualifications of another person as a candidate for nomination in a political party primary election shall file a petition specifically setting forth the grounds of the challenge within ten (10) days after the qualifying deadline for the office in question. The petition shall be filed with the executive committee with whom the candidate in question qualified.
(2) Within ten (10) days of receipt of the petition described in subsection (1) of this section, the appropriate executive committee shall meet and rule upon the petition. At least two (2) days before the hearing to consider the petition, the appropriate executive committee shall give notice to both the petitioner and the contested candidate of the time and place of the hearing on the petition. Each party shall be given an opportunity to be heard at that meeting and present evidence in support of his or her position.
(3) If the appropriate executive committee fails to rule upon the petition within the time required in subsection (2) of this section, that inaction shall be interpreted as a denial of the request for relief contained in the petition.
(4) Any party aggrieved by
the action or inaction of the appropriate executive committee may file a
petition for judicial review to the circuit court of the county in which the
executive committee whose decision is being reviewed sits. The petition must
be filed no later than fifteen (15) days after the date the petition was
originally filed with the appropriate executive committee. The person filing
for judicial review shall give a cost bond in the sum of Three Hundred Dollars
($300.00) with two (2) or more sufficient sureties conditioned to pay all costs
in case his or her petition * * * is dismissed, and an additional bond
may be required, by the court, if necessary, at any subsequent stage of the
proceedings.
(5) Upon the filing of the
petition and bond, the circuit clerk shall immediately, by registered letter or
by telegraph or by telephone, or personally, notify the Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court, or in his or her absence, or disability, some other judge
of the Supreme Court, who shall forthwith designate and notify a circuit
judge or retired judge on senior status of a district other than that which
embraces the district, subdistrict, county or any of the counties, involved in
the contest or complaint, to proceed to the county in which the contest or
complaint has been filed to hear and determine the contest or complaint. It
shall be the official duty of the trial judge to proceed to the discharge of
the designated duty at the earliest possible date to be fixed by the judge and
of which the contestant and contestee shall have reasonable notice. The contestant
and contestee are to be served in a reasonable manner as the judge may direct,
in response to which notice the contestee shall promptly file his or her
answer, and also his or her cross-complaint if * * * a cross-complaint exists. The
hearing before the trial court shall be de novo. The matter shall be tried to
the trial judge, without a jury. After hearing the evidence, the trial judge
shall determine whether the candidate whose qualifications have been challenged
is legally qualified to have his or her name placed upon the ballot in
question. The trial judge may, upon disqualification of any such candidate,
order that such candidate shall bear the court costs of the proceedings.
(6) Within three (3) days after judgment is rendered by the circuit court, the contestant or contestee, or both, may file an appeal in the Supreme Court upon giving a cost bond in the sum of Three Hundred Dollars ($300.00), together with a bill of exceptions which shall state the point or points of law at issue with a sufficient synopsis of the facts to fully disclose the bearing and relevancy of such points of law. The bill of exceptions shall be signed by the trial judge, or in case of his or her absence, refusal or disability, by two (2) disinterested attorneys, as is provided by law in other cases of bills of exception. The filing of such appeals shall automatically suspend the decision of the circuit court and the appropriate executive committee is entitled to proceed based upon their decision unless and until the Supreme Court, in its discretion, stays further proceedings in the matter. The appeal shall be immediately docketed in the Supreme Court and referred to the court en banc upon briefs without oral argument unless the court shall call for oral argument, and shall be decided at the earliest possible date, as a preference case over all others. The Supreme Court shall have the authority to grant such relief as is appropriate under the circumstances.
(7) The procedure set forth
in this section shall be the sole and only manner in which the qualifications
of a candidate seeking public office as a party nominee may be challenged * * * before the time of his or
her nomination * * * and after the time of his or her nomination, including
any time before the person assumes an elective office. After a party nominee
assumes an elective office, the election may be challenged as otherwise
provided by law. After a * * * person has been elected * * * as the party nominee in a
primary election, the election may be challenged as otherwise provided * * * in Sections 23-15-921 and 23-15-927.
After a party nominee assumes an elective office, his or her
qualifications to hold that office may be contested as otherwise provided by
law.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2017.