Mississippi Advisory Opinions August 13, 2002: AGO 2002-0535 (August 13, 2002)

Advisory Opinion Text

The Honorable Connie Cochran

Chairman

Hinds County Election Commission

Post Office Box 946

Jackson, Mississippi 39205-0946

Re: County Election Commission and Municipal Elections

Dear Mrs. Cochran:

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

I am writing to you to get an Official Attorney General Opinion regarding the possibility of the Hinds County Election Commission conducting municipal elections for those jurisdictions that utilize Hinds County's voting machines.

Hinds County has recently purchased a new voting system for $1,580,183.00, consisting of high tech, touch screen voting machines. The Hinds County Board of Supervisors has great concern about relinquishing control of these machines by allowing another jurisdiction to utilize the machines without the supervision of the Hinds County Election Commission.

The Board of Supervisors is proposing the Hinds County Election Commission administer the municipal elections by hiring and training all pollworkers, program the voting machines and generally, conduct the election. The County would provide a contract to be agreed upon by all parties, specifying a fee for the Election Commissioners as well as recover all expenses associated with the election, i.e. pollworker pay.

Please advise if this option is possible. You may contact me with any questions regarding this matter at my office. The telephone number is 601-968-6557.

A county or municipal election commission may enter a written agreement with a county or municipal party executive committee to perform various duties in connection with a primary election such as training poll workers, appointing poll workers, distributing ballot boxes, having ballots printed, distributing ballots, and receiving and canvassing election returns. See Mississippi Code Annotated, Sections 23-15-239(2), 23-15-265(2), 23-15-267(4), 23-15-333(4), 23-15-335(2), 23-15-597(2) and 23-15-266 (Revised 2001). However, Section 23-15-221 requires municipal election commissions to “perform all the duties in respect to the municipal election prescribed by law to be performed by the county election commissioners where not otherwise provided.” We find no authority that would allow a county election commission to conduct a municipal election.

Sincerely,

Mike Moore, Attorney General

Phil Carter, Special Assistant Attorney General.