Mississippi Advisory Opinions January 16, 2003: AGO 000015447 (January 16, 2003)
Collection: Mississippi Attorney General Opinions
Docket: AGO 000015447
Date: Jan. 16, 2003
Advisory Opinion Text
AGO 000015447.
DOCK 2003-0012
AUTH Heather Wagner
DATE 20030116
RQNM Leslie Scott
SUBJ Qualifications of Candidates
SBCD 71
TEXT Leslie Scott, Esq.
Assistant Secretary of State for Elections
Post Office Box 136
Jackson, Mississippi 39205-0136
Dear Ms. Scott:
Attorney General Mike Moore has received your request for an official opinion and has assigned it to me for research and response. Your letter reads, in part, as follows:
Miss. Code Ann. Section 23-15-299 provides that the qualifying deadline for state and county officials is to be 5:00 p.m. on the date of March 1. In 2003, March 1, falls on a Saturday. Our office has receive numerous inquiries from elected officials, political party executive committees, and candidates for office asking whether Saturday, March 1st, Friday, February 28th, or some other date should be enforced as the qualifying deadline.
We are particularly concerned that a party executive committee might feel they are not subject to a Friday deadline because they are not subject to normal office working hours. However, we feel there is a very strong public policy interest in enforcing a common qualifying deadline across the state and among the state party executive committees. Accordingly, we are requesting your opinion as to whether Friday, February 28th, at 5:00 p.m. should be enforced as the candidate qualifying deadline for all party and independent candidates in 2003.
* * * * *
The language of Section 23-15-299 requires the filing of the various assessments by candidates for political office by 5:00 p.m. on March 1. The statute does not give any direction in the situation with which we are faced this year, when March 1st falls on a Saturday. We agree that for the sake of continuity, all candidates should be held to the same standard. However, rather than designating a date other than that required by the statute, our office is of the opinion that all those officials authorized to accept candidate qualification papers must open their offices and be available for that purpose on that date until 5:00 p.m., regardless of whether that office is normally open on that day of the week.
If our office may be of further assistance, please advise.
Sincerely,
MIKE MOORE, ATTORNEY GENERAL
By:
Heather P. Wagner
Assistant Attorney General