Mississippi Advisory Opinions August 18, 2006: No. 2006-00395 (August 18, 2006)

No. 2006-00395.

DOCK 2006-00395

Dear Mr. Winfield:

Attorney General Jim Hood received your letter of request and assigned it to me for research and reply. Your letter states:

Please be advised that the Warren County Election Commissioners are preparing for an election in November of 2006. The circuit clerk has found that several voting precincts names were misnamed, missing or had not been corrected prior to the Democratic

Primaries in June of 2006. The discrepancies found in the Warren County voting precincts contradict with Section 9-7-29, of the Mississippi Code of 1972. In particular, Sub-district 9- 1 states that Kings, Waltersville, and Vicksburg Junior High School are the recognized precincts. However, Kings and Waltersville precinct names are duplicative. The Vicksburg-Warren School District changed the name of Vicksburg Junior High School to Warren Central Junior High School. In addition, voting precinct 3-61 was left off the Sub-district list.

Sub-district 9-2 states that Jett is a precinct when the actual location is Carpenters Union. Sub-district 9-2 is missing the Beechwood precinct.

As board attorney, and on behalf of the county, I hereby request your official opinion on the following issue: Whether a pending election may be contested when there are voting precincts which have been inadvertently misidentified or missing?

Mississippi Code Annotated Section 9-7-29 (Revised 2002) sets forth the composition of the Ninth Circuit Court District. The current version became effective on September 6, 1994 which is the date the U.S. Attorney General interposed no objection to the amendment. Section 9-7-29(2) provides:

The Ninth Circuit Court District shall be divided into two (2) subdistricts as follows:

(a) Subdistrict 9-1 shall consist of Issaquena County, Sharkey County and the following precincts in Warren County: St. Aloysius, Kings, Cedar Grove, Waltersville, Auditorium, Brunswick, Vicksburg Junior High School and American Legion Precincts.

(b) Subdistrict 9-2 shall consist of the following precincts in Warren County: Oak Ridge, Bovina, Culkin, Redwood, Number 7 Firestation, Jett, Elks Lodge, Goodrum, Yokena, Plumbers Hall, Y.M.C.A., Moose Lodge and Tingleville Precincts.

As of September 6, 1994 the geographical area of the above named precincts as they existed on that date constitute the Ninth Circuit Court District. Regardless of the change in the boundaries of county precincts or the names of said precincts, the geographical area of the Ninth Circuit Court District remains the same.

In response to your specific question, assuming all other election laws are complied with, an election for the Ninth Circuit Court District wherein the qualified electors who reside within the geographical area of the Ninth Circuit Court District as described above participate would be lawful even though the names of their precincts may not match those listed in the statute.

Sincerely,

JIM HOOD, ATTORNEY GENERAL

By:

Phil Carter Special Assistant Attorney General