Mississippi Advisory Opinions July 27, 1989: 19890727 (July 27, 1989)

Advisory Opinion Text

Dr. Eldon L. Bolton

Chairman

Harrison County Election Commission

423 Lameuse Street

Biloxi, Mississippi 39530

Dear Dr. Bolton:

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

“In accordance with 23–15–159, the Election Commission of Harrison County has removed the names of some 19, 000 voters who did not vote in the four years 1984 to 1987.

In accordance with this law the list of the voters whose names have been purged from the registration books is kept in the registrar's office. Copies of this list for each precinct are included in the back of the poll books so that anyone who is registered in that precinct and presents himself to vote can be marked as voting and after he votes his affidavit ballot can be replaced on the rolls.

My question is, does this list have to be maintained and added to ad infinitum or is there any particular cut off time where these names can be removed permanently from the registration books and the voter, if he desires to vote in a subsequent election will have to reregister.

I also have a second question concerning primaries with which I am unfamiliar. The Election Commission has been informed that the Democratic Party in Harrison County intends to run two candidates as Democrats for the position of Election Commissioner of one of the Beats.

Can a party name two candidates to be listed on the ballot as belonging to that party without a previous primary to select the party candidate for that office?”

Regarding your first question Mississippi Code Annotated § 23–15–159 (Supp.1988) provides in part:

“(c) The commissioners shall cancel the registration of all electors thus notified who have not applied for continuance within the prescribed time period, and the names of all such electors shall be removed from the list of qualified electors on the date designated for erasure. Provided, however, the names of electors who have been removed from the list of qualified electors shall be compiled and be made a part of a list entitled ‘Names of those purged from the registration books, ’ said list to be attached to the registration books. A copy of said list shall be furnished to the appropriate municipal election commissioners within the county, and the persons whose names are contained thereon shall be removed from the registration books.

(d) Any elector whose registration has been thus canceled may, at any election, cast a vote by affidavit ballot in the same manner as set forth in Section 23–15–573. Such affidavit ballot shall be counted at the election in which it is cast, if not otherwise disqualified, and the name of such person shall be reentered on the registration if such person is not otherwise disqualified. As an alternative to casting such a ballot, any elector whose registration has been canceled pursuant to this subsection may reregister in the manner provided for original registration.”

In response to your first question, we find no authority which would allow a county election commission to remove from the registration books the list of voters whose registration has been canceled for not voting. It appears the intent of the Legislature was that said list be a permanent part of the voter rolls.

Regarding your second question Section 23–15–213 sets forth the procedure for electing county commissioners of election. It provides in part:

“Candidates for county election commissioner shall qualify by filing with the clerk of the board of supervisors of their respective counties a petition personally signed by not less that fifty (50) qualified electors of the supervisor's district in which they reside, requesting that they be a candidate, not less than sixty (60) days before the election and unless such petition is filed within said time, their names shall not be placed upon the ballot. All candidates shall declare in writing their party affiliation, if any, to the board of supervisors, and such party affiliation shall be shown on the official ballot.” (emphasis added).

It is the opinion of this office that the above quoted statute, in its entirety, represents the exclusive procedure for qualifying as a candidate for the office of county election commissioner. This necessarily means that the party executive committees are not authorized to conduct primary elections to determine party nominees. Each candidate, on an individual basis, is required to declare his party affiliation, if any and that affiliation must be shown on the ballot.

Therefore, in response to your second question, a political party cannot officially name nominees to represent said party in an election for county commissioners of election. Obviously, any number of candidates who qualify by petition as required by Section 23–15–213 may choose to be affiliated with the same political party.

Sincerely,

Mike Moore Attorney General.