Mississippi Advisory Opinions May 25, 1994: AGO 94-0249 (May 25, 1994)

Advisory Opinion Text

Robert W. Elliott, Esquire

Attorney for Tippah County Board of Supervisors

105 East Spring Street

Ripley, Mississippi 38663

RE: REMOVING NAMES FROM REGISTRATION AND POLL BOOKS

Dear Mr. Elliott:

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

“I am writing you at the request of the Board of Supervisors of Tippah County, Mississippi.

The Board requests an opinion on the proper procedure and authority of the Board of Election Commissioners to transfer registered voters from one voting precinct to another and the removal of the names of registered voters from the poll books who are living outside of Tippah County, but have continued to vote in the county.

Specifically, the Board of Supervisors request your opinion on the following issues:

(1) May the Board of Election Commissioners, under the provisions of Section 23–15–159 or any related statute, transfer a qualified registered voter from one voting precinct to another without being requested to do so by such voter?

(2) If the answer to the previous question is in the affirmative, is the Board of Election Commissioners required to notify such voter of the transfer?

(3) May the Board of Election Commissioners, pursuant to Section 23–15–159 or any related statute, remove the name of a person from the registration and poll books who is living outside of the county, but who has continued to vote in Tippah County and in no other county?”

We preface our response by stating that Mississippi Code Annotated § 23–15–159 (Revised 1990) provides discretionary authority for county election commissions to remove names from the regular voter registration records for failure to vote in any county, state, or federal election for four (4) successive years. The U.S. Department of Justice has taken the position that the authority granted by Section 23–15–159 is enabling legislation only and that individual counties must make a submission pursuant to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act and receive a letter of no objection prior to the removal of names for failure to vote. We also note that the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) is effective in Mississippi in January, 1995 and will, insofar as federal elections are concerned, prohibit the removal of names from voter registration records for failure to vote.

The general statutory provision for the removal of names from the voter registration records is found in Section 23–15–153. It provides in part:

“(1) At the following times the commissioners of election shall meet at the office of the registrar and carefully revise the registration books and the pollbooks of the several voting precincts, and shall erase therefrom the names of all persons erroneously thereon, or who have died, removed or become disqualified as electors from any cause; ....” (emphasis ours)

In response to your first question, it is the opinion of this office that, upon a finding by a county election commission consistent with the facts that a registered voter is no longer a resident of the precinct in which he is registered, said commission is statutorily required to remove that voter's name from the poll book of that particular precinct. It is our further opinion that, where the voter has established residency in another precinct of the county, the commission has the responsibility to administratively place the name of that voter in the precinct of the county where he has established residency. We find no requirement that the commission be requested to make such change by the voter.

In response to your second question, the voter should be notified of the change so he will know that he is to vote at the polling place of the precinct where he resides.

In response to your third question, pursuant to Section 23–15–153, a county election commission has the duty to remove the names of individuals who have established residency outside the county from the voter registration records.

Sincerely,

Mike Moore, Attorney General

Phil Carter, Assistant Attorney General