Mississippi Advisory Opinions May 27, 2011: No. 2011-00198 (May 27, 2011)

Mississippi Attorney General Opinions

2011.

No. 2011-00198.

Dear Ms. Jordan:

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

Issue Presented

We understand your question to be whether a candidate who had been ruled eligible to have his name printed on the official primary election ballot by the appropriate party executive committee and later submitted his written withdrawal as a candidate may re-enter the race after the qualifying deadline has passed.

Response

If the withdrawal of the candidate in question was effectuated pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated Section 23-15-295 (Revised 2007), he may not re-enter the race after the qualifying deadline has passed. Whether or not the withdrawal was effective is a question of fact that we cannot answer by way of an official opinion.

Applicable Law and Discussion

Section 23-15-295 provides in part

When any person has qualified in the manner provided by law as a candidate for party nomination in any primary election, such person shall have the right to withdraw his name as a candidate by giving notice of his withdrawal in writing to the secretary of the proper executive committee at any time prior to the printing of the official ballots, and in the event of such withdrawal the name of such candidate shall not be printed on the ballot. .... .

If the candidate's written notice of withdrawal was delivered to the secretary of the proper executive committee either personally or otherwise, he is precluded from re-entering the race for the office for which he originally qualified. If such notice was not delivered to the proper executive committee, the withdrawal was not effective and he remains a qualified candidate.

Sincerely,

JIM HOOD, ATTORNEY GENERAL

By:

Phil Carter

Special Assistant Attorney General