Mississippi Advisory Opinions June 13, 1997: AGO 97-0322 (June 13, 1997)

Advisory Opinion Text

Hon. Valerie T. Smith

City Clerk

City of Canton

Hon. Valerie Body

Deputy City Clerk

City of Canton

P.O. Box 1605

Canton, Mississippi 39046

Re: Examination of ballot boxes

Dear Ms. Smith and Ms. Body:

Attorney General Mike Moore has received your letter of request for an official opinion and has assigned it to me for research and reply. You inquire as to whether the contents of ballot boxes may be copied by a mayoral candidate on a copy machine during the examination process of the ballot boxes.

Section 23-15-911, Miss. Code Ann . sets forth the procedure by which ballot boxes may be examined following certification of the election results. Section 23-15-911 provides that the examination of the ballot boxes “shall be conducted in the presence of the circuit clerk [or city clerk] or his deputy who shall be charged with the duty to see that none of the contents of the box are tampered with.” There is no doubt that a candidate who makes his request to examine the ballot boxes in a timely manner has a right to do so. However, there is no statutory authority for a candidate to remove the ballots to copy or to bring a copy machine into the room where the ballots are kept to make copies of the ballots. To allow such a thing would increase the difficulty a clerk would have in insuring that the ballots were not tampered with in any manner. Therefore, it is the opinion of this office that ballots should not be copied on a copying machine during the procedure to examine the ballot boxes as outlined in Section 23-15-911 .

If this office can be of any further assistance, please let us know.

Very truly yours,

Mike Moore, Attorney General.

Sandra M. Shelson Special Assistant Attorney General.