Mississippi Advisory Opinions September 24, 1992: AGO 000005073 (September 24, 1992)

AGO 000005073.

Dear Mr. Henley:

Attorney General Mike Moore has received your letter requesting an official opinion and has assigned it to me for research and reply.

According to your letter, Copiah County is currently operating under the countywide system of road administration and has received two groups of petitions calling for an election on the question of the continued operation of this system. As stated in your letter, these petitions were delivered to the Chancery Clerk on two separate dates, i.e., September 4, 1992 and September 8, 1992.

In view of the filing of the above petitions, you submit for opinion the following questions:

1. "Is the County required to call an election under Section 19-2-5(5) based on petitions filed less than 60 days prior to the November, 1992, general election?"

2. "If petitions filed less than 60 days prior to the November general election are considered in determining whether the Board of Supervisors is required to call an election under Section 19-2-5(5), is there a deadline for filing petitions and if so, what is it?"

Section 19-2-5(5) MISS. CODE ANN. (Supp. 1992), which authorizes the holding of the election in question, does not contain a petition filing deadline. Under Mississippi law, where an election statute fails to provide the procedure for calling or holding the election, the general rule is that the most analogous statutory procedure should be followed. See: Duggan v. Board of Supervisors of Stone County, 43 So.2d 566 (1949); Henry v. Board of Supervisors of Newton County, 34 So. 232 (1948); and Simpson County v. Burkett, 172 So. 329 (1937).

The election under Section 19-2-5(5) is unique in that it can only be held in the years 1992, 1995, 1999, and subsequent quadrennial election years. In view of this uniqueness, we are unable to identify a truly analogous petition filing deadline that would operate to prevent the voters of Copiah County from voting on this significant issue. Accordingly, it is the opinion of this office that the Board of Supervisors of Copiah County is authorized to call an election under Section 19-2-5(5) MISS. CODE ANN. (Supp. 1992) based on sufficient petitions filed less than 60 days prior to the November, 1992 general election.

With regard to your second question, since Section 19-2-5(5) does not contain a petition filing deadline, it is the opinion of this office that petitions may continue to be considered by the Board so long as the Board's action does not itself result in a delay by the Election Commission in the preparation of the general election ballot or a delay in the availability of absentee ballots.

Sincerely,

Giles W. Bryant Special Assistant Attorney General GWB:ph