Mississippi Advisory Opinions March 23, 1979: 19790323 (March 23, 1979)

Advisory Opinion Text

Mr. Virgil Sellers

Circuit Clerk

Covington County Courthouse

Collins, Mississippi 39428

Dear Mr. Sellers:

Attorney General Summer has received your opinion request dated March 21, 1979 and has assigned it to me for research and reply, your letter stating:

“The Chairman of the Democratic Executive Committee has qualified as a candidate for supervisor in Beat 4, of Covington County and has not resigned from the Executive Committee. Can he serve on in this seat after he has qualified as a candidate for supervisor. Should he resign as chairman before he can be put on the ticket for supervisor.”

The political parties' County Executive Committees pass on the qualifications of the candidates as they file and after the primaries, certify the party nominees to the County Election Commissioners as the candidates of the party. Serving on the Executive Committee and being a candidate in the primary are two mutually exclusive positions: being one excludes the other. One cannot pass judgment on himself as to qualifications.

One's qualifying as a candidate would probably automatically vacate the other office, but for the record the Executive Committee member should resign from the Committee at the time of qualifying as a candidate.

Yours very truly,

A. F. Summer, Attorney General