Mississippi Advisory Opinions August 09, 1989: 19890809 (August 09, 1989)

Advisory Opinion Text

Honorable Edwina Stringer

Harrison County Election Commission

Post Office Drawer CC

Gulfport, Mississippi 39501

Dear Mrs. Stringer:

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

“On behalf of the Harrison County Election Commission, I would like to submit the following question for your opinion, or if an opinion has been given, may I have a copy.

Can the name of a registered voter be removed from the voter registration list on the basis of a returned jury summons? We have many summons' returned showing various reasons such as ‘no such person’, forwarding time expired, etc.”

Mississippi Code Annotated § 23–15–153 (Supp.1988) provides in part:

“At the following times the commissioners of election shall meet at the office of the registrar and carefully revise the registration books and the pollbooks of the several voting precincts, and shall erase therefrom the names of all persons erroneously thereon, or who have died, removed or become disqualified as electors from any cause; .......”

The above quoted statute requires the election commission to determine as fact whether or a person has become disqualified.

Information such as that mentioned in your letter may certainly be considered when making these determinations. If the commission acting in good faith and through the exercise of the personal deliberation and judgment of its members determines, consistent with the facts and based on whatever information is available, that a particular elector has become disqualified and removes that individual's name from the registration books, the individual commissioners would be immune from civil liability pursuant to the doctrine of public officials immunity. Davis v. Little , 362 So.2d 642 (1978); Hudson v. Rausa , 462 So.2d 689 (1984); Grantham v. Mississippi Department of Corrections , 522 So.2d 219 (1988); McFadden v. State , 542 So.2d 871 (1989) .

Sincerely,

Mike Moore, Attorney General.