Mississippi Advisory Opinions September 24, 1979: 19790924 (September 24, 1979)

Advisory Opinion Text

Mr. Gale Martin

Mississippi State Soil & Water Conservation Commission

754 North President Street

Jackson, Mississippi 39202

Re: Elections—Commissioners of Soil & Water Conservation District—§ 69–27–31

Dear Mr. Martin:

Your letter request of September 20, 1979, addressed to Honorable A. F. Summer Attorney General, has been received and assigned to this writer for research and reply. Your letter states:

‘The Mississippi State Soil and Water Conservation Commission would like to request from you a ruling on the results of an election of commissioners for the Carroll County Soil and Water Conservation District.

‘An election held on September 18, 1979, in our opinion, four people received the majority of the votes: Mr. James W. Nelms received 230 votes, Dr. M. S. Costilow received 154 votes, Mr. G. A. Sanders received 153 votes, and Mr. Virgil Cook received 131 votes. The total number of votes any person could receive was 261 votes.

‘In order to receive a majority of these votes, a person has to receive 131 votes. Therefore, in this case, Virgil Cook with 131 votes receives a majority along with the others and now we have four people with a majority.

‘Please advise us as to how we are supposed to handle this special election, as to whether we will run off between the two lowest numbers or run off between all four.’

We assume the election set out in your letter has reference to the election provided in § 69–27–31, Election of the commissioners for each district., Mississippi Code of 1972 which provides, inter alia:

‘. . . The committee shall give due notice of an election to be held for the election of three (3) commissioners for the district. The names of all nominees, on behalf of whom such nominating petitions have been filed within the time herein designated, shall appear, arranged in alphabetical order of the surnames, upon ballots, with a square before each name and a direction to insert an X mark in the square before any three (3) names to indicate the voter's preference. All owners of lands lying within the district shall be eligible to vote in such election. Only such landowners shall be eligible to vote. The three (3) candidates who receive a majority of the votes cast in such an election shall be elected commissioners for such district. In the event any candidate fails to receive a majority, then the candidates receiving the largest number of votes shall run off in an election to be held two (2) weeks thereafter. The committee shall pay all the expenses of such elections, shall supervise conduct thereof, shall prescribe regulations governing the conduct of such election and the determination of the eligibility of voters therein, and shall publish the results of same.’

Assuming that the election was conducted in accordance with the cited statute, it is the opinion of this office that in the situation you present that the top three nominees are elected, viz. Nelms, Costilow and Sanders.

Sincerely yours,

A. F. Summer Attorney General.

John M. Weston Special Assistant Attorney General.