Mississippi Advisory Opinions June 01, 1988: 19880601 (June 01, 1988)

Advisory Opinion Text

Honorable Patricia A. Keyes

Election Commissioner

City of Pearl

1003 Jenkins Street

Pearl, Mississippi 39208

Dear Mrs. Keyes:

Attorney General Mike Moore has received your letter of request and has assigned it to me for research and reply. A copy of your letter is attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference. Your questions all concern the duties of municipal election commissioners relative to the implementation of Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-159 (Supp. 1987), a copy of which is attached hereto.

This statutory provision allows the county election commission to ‘suspend’ the registration of any county elector who has not voted in at least one (1) election, whether it be a general or special or primary election, whether on a county, state or federal level, in the last four (4) successive years. We would note that the county election commissions are not required to purge their registration and poll books based upon this statute, but instead may utilize this statute in their discretion. The statute sets forth a notice procedure that must be followed before the registration of an elector may be cancelled.

Once the county election commission has followed this procedure and has cancelled the registration of a elector, the name of such elector should be placed on a list entitled ‘name of those purged from the registration books'. This list should be maintained any affixed to the registration books. In addition, the county election commission should send a copy of this list to the municipal election commissions within the county.

Upon receipt of such list, the municipal election commissioners are mandated by this statute to remove from their municipal registration books, the names of any person found thereon who has been removed from the county books. It would seem that this mandate is based upon the long-standing view in this state that a elector must be a qualified county elector as a precondition to his municipal registration. While the elimination of dual registration has reduced the importance of this concept during the initial registration process [i.e. you now register as a county and municipal elector at the same time in most instances] it is still relevant to the ‘purging’ process.

While some question may now be raised as to whether it is still required that a elector be a qualified county elector as a precondition to a municipal registration, it is the opinion of this office that it is still required. Prior opinions to this effect were based upon our interpretation of Miss. Code Ann. § 21-11-1 (Supp. 1985) . Although this statute was repealed by Chapter 495 of the 1986 Laws of Mississippi, the mandatory language found in § 23-15-159, which was also brought forward in Chapter 495, in our opinion, is evidence of the legislative intent that this requirement is still in effect.

It should also be noted that § 23-15-159 provides for the reinstatement of the registration of any elector whose registration was cancelled under the provisions of this statute. Such persons may be either reregister or they may appear at ‘any election’ and cast an affidavit ballot, if proper. We feel that ‘any election’ includes municipal elections. Thus, if any elector casts a valid affidavit ballot, his registration is automatically restored in both the county and the municipality.

Based upon the above, we answer your specific questions in order below:

QUESTION NO. 1: Does the section of the law (MCA 23-15-159) apply to the Pearl Municipal Election Commission? In other words should the commission initiate the suspension and cancellation of registration of municipal voters who have failed to vote in at least one (1) election since January 1, 1984?

ANSWER: NO. Any action to implement the provisions of § 23-15-159 must be initiated by the Rankin County Election Commission. The Pearl Municipal Election Commission should delete from the municipal roll the names of those persons given to the municipal commission by the Rankin County Commission.

QUESTION NO. 2: Should municipal elections be considered in addition to those elections on a county, state or federal level which is not mentioned in the law.

ANSWER: No. In cancelling the registration of otherwise qualified electors, the county election commission will consider only those elections held on county, state or federal level. However, an affidavit ballot cast in a municipal election, as discussed above will be sufficient to reinstate the registration on both a county and municipal level.

QUESTION NO. 3: If the Pearl Municipal Election Commission is charged by law to initiate to such action, are there provisions allowed by law to assist the commission in obtaining relevent data in regard to voting histories of Pearl voters eligible to vote in nonmunicipal elections, namely county, state or federal elections.

ANSWER: No. As a result of our answers to the questions addressed above, the municipal election commission would have no reason to examine the voting history of those persons whose registration is cancelled pursuant to § 23-15-159 .

Hopefully you will find this responsive to your request. Should you have any questions or if we may be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact this office.

Sincerely,

Mike Moore Attorney General.

John H. Emfinger Special Assistant Attorney General.