Mississippi Advisory Opinions April 01, 2005: AGO 2005-0153 (April 01, 2005)

Advisory Opinion Text

Ms. Gloria Gilless

Chairman

Southaven Municipal

Election Commission

8710 Northwest Drive

Southaven, Mississippi 38671

Re: Candidate's Qualifications

Dear Ms. Gilless:

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

May a municipal election commission refuse to place the name of an individual on the general election ballot when the political party he/she represents has failed to form a temporary municipal executive committee in accordance with state law?

We preface our response by stating that if a permanent committee representing the party in question is in place, there would be no need for the formation of a temporary committee. We do not know whether such permanent committee exists.

Mississippi Code Annotated Section 23-15-313 (Revised 2001) provides for the selection of a temporary municipal executive committee. It states in part:

If there be any political party, or parties, in any municipality which shall not have a party executive committee for such municipality, such political party, or parties, shall select temporary executive committees to serve until executive committees shall be regularly elected,.......

Section 23-15-309 provides the procedure for a candidate to qualify to run in a party primary. It requires the filing of a “statement of intent” with the municipal clerk and the payment of a ten dollar ($10.00) filing fee to said clerk. It further requires the clerk to “promptly supply all necessary information and pay over all fees so received to the secretary of the proper municipal executive committee.”

We are unclear as to whether the potential candidate filed his statement of intent and paid the filing fee in accordance with the above quoted statute. If his statement of intent was properly filed and the filing fee was paid, it is also unclear who, if anyone, received them from the clerk.

In response to your specific question, in order for a particular political party to have nominees whose names are to be placed on the municipal general election ballot, there must be either a permanent municipal executive committee representing the party in question or a temporary committee representing said party. Such committee must certify to the municipal election commission the name or names of candidates who have been duly nominated. If a political party has no executive committee in place there can be no party nominees for that party. If there is a committee in place but that committee fails to certify their nominee or nominees to the election commission there is no authority for said election commission to place any name on the general election ballot as the nominee for that party.

Sincerely,

Jim Hood, Attorney General

Phil Carter, Special Assistant Attorney General