Mississippi Advisory Opinions July 18, 2003: AGO 000015742 (July 18, 2003)

AGO 000015742.

Dear Mr. Mathis:

Attorney General Mike Moore has received your letter of request and assigned it to me for research and reply. Your letter states:

This letter shall request an opinion from your office concerning a redistricting issue, which has arisen which affects the upcoming county election August 5, 2003.

Humphreys County, pursuant to Board of Supervisors approval, submitted a request for redistricting to the United States Department of Justice. This redistricting plan (with new beat lines) has not been approved. Pre-clearance is still pending. However, the election is August 5, 2003 and there appears to be insufficient time within which to prepare appropriate ballots (including absentee) to apprise the citizens of Humphreys County of the districts in which they are to vote.

This letter requests an opinion as to the last date on which the circuit clerk's office may await for pre-clearance for the Justice Department before it has ballots printed for submission to voters to vote in the upcoming election. In other words, because of not having received pre-clearance, must the county continue to use the old voting districts for the August 5, 2003 election?

In response to your inquiry, we are of the opinion that, since we are already within the absentee balloting period for the August 5 primaries and the new lines have not been effectuated, the elections must be conducted in election districts as they are constituted by the lines that are currently in effect absent an order from a court of competent jurisdiction to the contrary.

Sincerely,

MIKE MOORE, ATTORNEY GENERAL

By:

Phil Carter

Special Assistant Attorney General