Mississippi Advisory Opinions March 11, 1999: AGO 1999-0132 (March 11, 1999)

Advisory Opinion Text

Speaker Pro Tem Robert Clark

Mississippi House of Representatives

P.O. Box 1018

Jackson, Mississippi 39215-1018

Dear Mr. Speaker:

Attorney General Mike Moore has received your request for an official opinion in response to the following question: “Can the Democratic Party appoint a nominee in the Humphreys County race due to the fact that the democratic candidate was killed?”

In response, Section 23-15-317 states in pertinent part:

If any person nominated for office in a primary election shall die, be removed after his nomination or withdraw or resign from his candidacy for a legitimate nonpolitical reason as defined in this section, and such vacancy in nomination shall occur between the primary election and the ensuing general election, then the municipal, county or state executive committee with which the original nominee qualified as a candidate in the primary election shall nominate a nominee for such office. Where such a party nominee is unopposed each political party registered with the State Board of Election Commissioners shall have the privilege of nominating a candidate for the office involved....

It is the understanding of this office that the deceased candidate was unopposed for the Democratic nomination which necessarily means that there would be no Democratic primary election conducted for the office in question. Therefore, the deceased candidate was the Democratic nominee. He, however, was to face an Independent candidate in the general election. Based on a reading of Section 23-15-317, although the candidate's death occurred prior to the primary election and not between the primary and general elections as stated in the statute, because the candidate was the party nominee, the Democratic party is entitled to nominate a candidate in the deceased candidate's place.

If this office can be of any further assistance, please contact us.

Very truly yours,

Mike Moore, Attorney General