Bill Text: MS HB535 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Elections; revise procedures for counting absentee ballots and campaigning on election day.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Failed) 2011-02-01 - Died In Committee [HB535 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2011-HB535-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2011 Regular Session
To: Apportionment and Elections
By: Representative Chism
House Bill 535
AN ACT TO PROHIBIT A PERSON FROM ATTESTING TO MORE THAN 10 ABSENTEE BALLOTS PER ELECTION; TO PROVIDE THAT A PERSON WHO ATTESTS TO MORE THAN 10 ABSENTEE BALLOTS SHALL BE FINED $500 FOR EVERY ABSENTEE BALLOT OVER THE TENTH ABSENTEE BALLOT; TO PROVIDE THAT A CANDIDATE, THE COMMITTEE TO ELECT A CANDIDATE, THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF A CANDIDATE OR THE POLITICAL PARTY OF A CANDIDATE IS PROHIBITED FROM GIVING, PROVIDING, SPONSORING OR OTHERWISE MAKING AVAILABLE ANY FOOD OR BEVERAGE TO A VOTER ON THE DAY ON WHICH AN ELECTION OCCURS; TO AMEND SECTION 23-15-625, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE REGISTRAR TO OPEN AND COUNT ABSENTEE BALLOTS AFTER THE POLLS HAVE CLOSED AND AFTER THE BALLOT BOXES AND POLL BOOKS HAVE BEEN RETURNED TO THE CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE COUNTY; TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-639 AND 23-15-247, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE PRECEDING SECTIONS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. A person may not attest to more than ten (10) absentee ballots per election. A person who attests to more than ten (10) absentee ballots shall be fined Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for every absentee ballot over the tenth absentee ballot.
SECTION 2. (1) A candidate, the committee to elect a candidate, the executive committee of a candidate or the political party of a candidate is prohibited from giving, providing, sponsoring or otherwise making available any food or beverage to a voter on the day on which an election occurs. This prohibition shall apply from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on the day on which an election occurs. This provision does not apply to any other time on, before or after election day.
(2) A person who violates the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, fined One Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($1,500.00) per person served a food or beverage and punished by imprisonment in the county jail not to exceed six (6) months. For the purposes of this section, the term "served" means given, provided, sponsored or otherwise made available.
SECTION 3. Section 23-15-625, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-625. (1) The registrar shall be responsible for providing applications for absentee voting as provided in this section. At least sixty (60) days prior to any election in which absentee voting is provided for by law, the registrar shall provide a sufficient number of applications. In the event a special election is called and set at a date which makes it impractical or impossible to prepare applications for absent elector's ballot sixty (60) days prior to the election, the registrar shall provide applications as soon as practicable after the election is called. The registrar shall fill in the date of the particular election on the application for which the application will be used.
(2) The registrar shall be authorized to disburse applications for absentee ballots to any qualified elector within the county where he serves. Any person who presents to the registrar an oral or written request for an absentee ballot application for a voter entitled to vote absentee by mail, other than the elector who seeks to vote by absentee ballot, shall, in the presence of the registrar, sign the application and print on the application his or her name and address and the name of the elector for whom the application is being requested in the place provided for on the application for that purpose. However, if for any reason such person is unable to write the information required, then the registrar shall write the information on a printed form which has been prescribed by the Secretary of State. The form shall provide a place for such person to place his mark after the form has been filled out by the registrar.
(3) It shall be unlawful for any person to solicit absentee ballot applications or absentee ballots for persons staying in any skilled nursing facility as defined in Section 41-7-173. This prohibition shall not apply to:
(a) A family member of the person staying in the skilled nursing facility; or
(b) A person designated by the person for whom the absentee ballot application or absentee ballot is sought, the registrar or the deputy registrar.
As used in this subsection, "family member" means a spouse, parent, grandparent, sibling, adult child, grandchild or legal guardian.
(4) The registrar in the county wherein a voter is qualified to vote upon receiving the envelope containing the absentee ballots shall keep an accurate list of all persons preparing such ballots, which list shall be kept in a conspicuous place accessible to the public near the entrance to his office. The registrar shall also furnish to each precinct manager a list of the names of all persons in each respective precinct voting absentee ballots to be posted in a conspicuous place at the polling place for public notice. The application on file with the registrar and the envelopes containing the ballots shall be kept by the registrar in a secure location within the registrar's office until after the polls are closed. At the close of the regular balloting, at the close of the polls and after all ballot boxes and poll books have been returned to the clerk of the circuit court, the registrar shall open the absentee ballots and deposit them in the appropriate ballot box as provided in Section 23-15-639. The registrar shall also turn over a list of all such persons who have voted by absentee ballot and whose ballots are at the registrar's office.
(5) The registrar shall also be authorized to mail one (1) application to any qualified elector of the county for use in a particular election.
SECTION 4. Section 23-15-639, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-639. (1) In elections in which direct recording electronic voting systems are not utilized, the examination and counting of absentee ballots shall be conducted as follows:
(a) At the close of the regular balloting, at the close of the polls and after all ballot boxes and poll books have been returned to the clerk of the circuit court, the registrar shall * * * take the envelopes containing the absentee ballots of such electors from the secure location in the registrar's office, and the name, address and precinct inscribed on each envelope shall be announced by the registrar.
(b) The signature on the application shall then be compared with the signature on the back of the envelope. If it corresponds and the affidavit, if one is required, is sufficient and the registrar finds that the applicant is a registered and qualified voter or otherwise qualified to vote, and that he has not appeared in person and voted at the election, the envelope shall then be opened and the ballot removed from the envelope, without its being unfolded, or permitted to be unfolded or examined.
(c) Having observed and found the ballot to be regular as far as can be observed from its official endorsement, the registrar shall deposit it in the appropriate precinct ballot box with the other ballots * * * and enter the voter's name in the receipt book provided for that purpose and mark "VOTED" in the pollbook or poll list as if he had been present and voted in person. If voting machines are used, all absentee ballots shall be placed in the ballot box after the ballot boxes are returned to the clerk of the circuit court, and after the absentee ballots are opened and recorded by the registrar. The registrar shall immediately count such absentee ballots and add them to the votes cast in the voting machine or device.
(2) In elections in which direct recording electronic voting systems are utilized, the examination and counting of absentee ballots shall be conducted as follows:
(a) At the close of the regular balloting, at the close of the polls, and after all ballot boxes and poll books have been returned to the clerk of the circuit court, the registrar shall first take the envelopes containing the absentee ballots of such electors from the box, and the name, address and precinct inscribed on each envelope shall be announced by the registrar.
(b) The signature on the application shall then be compared with the signature on the back of the envelope. If it corresponds and the affidavit, if one is required, is sufficient and the registrar finds that the applicant is a registered and qualified voter or otherwise qualified to vote, and that he has not appeared in person and voted at the election, the unopened envelope shall be marked "ACCEPTED" and the registrar shall enter the voter's name in the receipt book provided for that purpose and mark "VOTED" in the pollbook or poll list as if he had been present and voted in person.
(c) All absentee ballot envelopes shall then be placed in the secure ballot transfer case and delivered to the officials in charge of conducting the election at the central tabulation point of the county. The official in charge of the election shall open the envelopes marked "ACCEPTED" and remove the ballot from the envelope.
(d) Having observed the ballot to be regular as far as can be observed from its official endorsement, the absentee ballot shall be processed through the central optical scanner. The scanned totals shall then be combined with the direct recording electronic voting system totals for the unofficial vote count.
When there is a conflict between an electronic voting system and a paper record, then there is a rebuttable presumption that the paper record is correct.
SECTION 5. Section 23-15-247, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-247. The commissioners of election in each county shall procure, if not already provided, a sufficient number of ballot boxes, which shall be distributed by them to the voting precincts of the county before the time for opening the polls. The boxes shall be secured by good and substantial locks, and, if an adjournment shall take place after the opening of the polls and before all the votes shall be counted, the box shall be securely locked, so as to prevent the admission of anything into it, or the taking of anything from it, during the time of adjournment; and the box shall be kept by one of the managers and the key by another of the managers, and the manager having the box shall carefully keep it, and neither unlock or open it himself nor permit it to be done, nor permit any person to have any access to it during the time of adjournment. The box shall not be removed from the polling building or place after the polls are opened until the count is complete, if as many as three (3) qualified electors object. After each election the ballot boxes shall be delivered, with the keys thereof, to the clerk of the circuit court of the county for preservation and deposit of absentee ballots located at the clerk's office; and he shall keep them for future use, and, when called for, deliver them to the commissioners of election.
SECTION 6. 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 7. 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.
