Mississippi Advisory Opinions October 31, 1986: 19861031 (October 31, 1986)

Advisory Opinion Text

Honorable Guy Kenner Ellis, Jr.

Attorney for City of Greenville

Post Office Box 452

Greenville, Mississippi 38701

Dear Mr. Ellis:

Attorney General Edwin Lloyd Pittman has received your letter of request and has assigned it to me for research and reply.

Your letter states in part:

“The City of Greenville would greatly appreciate your opinion as to the following questions pertaining to re-registration:

“Factual Background: Washington County, in which the City of Greenville is located, is currently undergoing a complete re-registration of voters for county and state election purposes. The re-registration began January 1, 1986 and will continue through December 31, 1987. During the 2 years during which this re-registration is being conducted, voters registered on the previous county rolls and voters who re-registered will all be allowed to vote in state and county elections. After December 31, 1987, any existing voter who has not re-registered will be deleted from the county voting rolls. This re-registration was submitted to the United States Department of Justice for approval and which interposed no objection thereto.

“The City Clerk of the City of Greenville is serving as a Deputy County Registrar for purposes of this re-registration. Furthermore, as provided by the 1984 Election Reform Act Mississippi Laws 1984, Chapter 457, the City Clerk is receiving the name and other electoral information of each person registering or re-registering with Washington County during this re-registration who indicates that he or she lives within the municipal boundaries of Greenville. The names of all such persons not presently appearing on the municipal registration books are being added to the municipal voting rolls.

“Although participating in the county's re-registration of voters to the extent provided above, neither the Greenville City Council nor the Greenville City Election Commission has announced, as have the Washington County Board of Supervisors and the Washington County Election Commission, that persons presently appearing on the municipal voting rolls who do not re-register by December 31, 1987, will be purged from rolls after that date. Unlike the county, the City of Greenville has not obtained approval from the United States Department of Justice to delete voters who do not re-register by December 31, 1987 from the municipal voting rolls.

“ Mississippi Code of 1972 § 21-11-1 (as amended 1984) provides in regard to qualifications to vote in municipal elections:

‘Every person who is a qualified elector and who has resided within the corporate limits for thirty (30) days before he offers to vote shall be entitled to vote at all municipal elections if properly registered as provided by law.’

“We note that the 1984 amendment to § 21-11-1 deleted the words, ‘of the county’ immediately following the words ‘every person who is a qualified elector’.”

You then present five (5) questions which we will restate and respond to in sequence. We preface our responses by directing your attention to Miles v. Board of Supervisors Scott County, 212 Miss. 566, 55 So.2d 157 (1951) . In Miles the Court held that the old registration book remained in full force and effect until the new one became effective and that persons whose names appeared thereon and who had been registered for at least four months (now 30 days) prior to the election had the right to vote if they could not have registered on the new registration book after the effective date thereof for a full period of four months (now 30 days) prior to an election.

QUESTION NO. 1:

“Shall persons who have properly registered to vote in the City of Greenville prior to January 1, 1986, and who presently appear on the municipal election rolls, but who do not re-register to vote in the general registration of electors in Washington County on or before December 31, 1987 and are thereafter deleted from the voting rolls of Washington County remain qualified electors of the City of Greenville after December 31, 1987? In other words, would such persons who do not re-register during the county re-registration remain ‘qualified electors' within the meaning of Mississippi Code 1972 § 21-11-1 (as amended 1984)?”

RESPONSE: It is the opinion of this office that Section 21-11-1 as amended by Chapter 457, Laws of 1984, still mandates that one be a qualified elector of the county as a prerequisite to being a qualified elector of a municipality within said county. Therefore individuals whose names are lawfully removed from the county registration and poll books can no longer be qualified electors of the municipality.

QUESTION NO. 2:

“If your response to Question Number 1 is that persons presently listed on the Greenville Municipal Voting Roll who do not re-register in the general county re-registration by December 31, 1987, will no longer be qualified electors in the City of Greenville, would their removal from the Greenville Municipal Election Roll be effected automatically from their removal from the roll of qualified electors in the County?”

RESPONSE: The removal of names from the registration and poll books must be done by official action of the municipal election commission after the appropriate factual determinations have been made.

QUESTION NO. 3:

“Is the City of Greenville obligated to give any notice to persons presently registered on the municipal voting roll that their names will be deleted from this roll and they will no longer be allowed to vote in municipal elections unless they re-register in the county-wide re-registration on or before December 31, 1987?”

RESPONSE: We know of no statutory notice requirement. Such a requirement might possibly come from the re-registration plan itself.

QUESTION NO. 4:

“If persons who are presently listed on the City voting rolls who do not re-register in the general county re-registration are to be removed from the municipal voting roll after December 31, 1987, would this constitute a change in a voting practice by the City of Greenville which would require submission to the United States Department of Justice under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as amended? Or alternatively, does the county's submission of its re-registration process to the United States Department of Justice to which the Department of Justice has not interposed an objection coupled with the effects of the Election Reform Act of 1984 which was submitted to the United States Attorney General who interposed no objection thereto eliminate the need for a further submission by the City of Greenville?”

RESPONSE: An answer to your fourth question calls for an interpretation of federal law which we may not, by official opinion, make.

“Factual Background (For Question No. 5): Since August, 1984, when the Election Reform Act of 1984 went into effect, Washington County has been using a ‘Application for Registration’ containing in exactly the form prescribed in Mississippi Code 1972 § 23-5-303 (as amended 1984). This form requires submission of certain information by prospective electors including a statement of their present address and a statement of whether such prospective elector resides within the corporate limits of a municipality located within the county. This form is sworn and subscribed to under oath by the applicant.

In some cases questions may arise concerning the accuracy of the information provided on the ‘Application for Registration’ and in particular the accuracy of the applicant's stated street address and whether the applicant actually resides within the corporate limits of a municipality. Although the 1984 Act provides for challenges to applications, see Mississippi Code 1972 § 21-11-3(2), we do not find any provision in the law that either allows or prohibits the requirement of vertification of information provided on the sworn ‘Application for Registration’ at the time the application is taken.

QUESTION NO. 5:

“Can a County Registrar of voters, including the Municipal Clerk when acting as a Deputy County Registrar, require a prospective voter at the time of completion of his or her ‘Application for Registration’ to produce verification such as a driver's license or other identification to verify information on the ‘Application for Registration’ and, in particular, to verify the prospective voter's actual residence address and whether they physically reside within the corporate limits of a municipality, such as the City of Greenville, within the county? If requesting such independent verification is permitted, what action can be taken by the County Registrar or by the City if the prospective applicant refuses or is unable to produce independent verification of the information on the ‘Application for Registration’? Can the municipal clerk withhold placing the prospective voter on the municipal registration roll until and unless independent verification of the prospective voter's residency within the municipal limits has been received?”

RESPONSE: An individual's residence for voting purposes is a factual determination to be made by the municipal election commission based upon all available information.

In response to your specific question it is the opinion of this office that verification information may be requested but that refusal to provide same would not be justification to withhold placing an otherwise qualified individual's name on the registration book.

Very truly yours,

Edwin Lloyd Pittman Attorney General.