Mississippi Advisory Opinions August 09, 1989: 19890809 (August 09, 1989)

Advisory Opinion Text

Mrs. Sue Sautermeister

Hinds County Board of Election Commissioners

Post Office Box 946

Jackson, Mississippi 39205–0946

Dear Mrs. Sautermeister:

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

“A question has arisen over the qualification time for candidates who file for office using a petition. When, exactly, is the petition considered delivered: when it has been presented to have the signatures of the voters who signed the petition verified or after the signatures have been verified and the certificate of signatures has been attached by the Circuit Clerk or one of the Deputy Circuit Clerks?

When does the five p.m. deadline apply—before or after the signatures have been verified?

In addition, who is allowed to check the signatures on petitions for a) independent candidates; b) county school board candidates; c) election commissioner candidates?”

In response to your first question, generally the unverified petition itself is all that must be filed before the statutory deadline. If the petition is later determined to be sufficient and the candidate meets all other requirements he would be entitled to have his name placed on the appropriate ballot. See Mississippi Code Annotated § 23–15–359 (Supp.1988) . However, there is at least one (1) exception to this rule. Section 23–15–213 sets forth the qualifying procedure that must be followed by candidates for the office of county election commissioner. It provides in part:

“Candidates for county election commissioner shall qualify by filing with the clerk of the board of supervisors of their respective counties a petition personally signed by not less than fifty (50) qualified electors of the supervisor's district in which they reside, requesting that they be a candidate, not less than sixty (60) days before the election and unless such petition is filed within said time, their names shall not be placed on the ballot.... (emphasis added)

The petition shall have attached thereto a certificate of the registrar showing the number of qualified electors on each petition, which shall be furnished by the registrar on request. The board shall determine the sufficiency of the petition, and if the same shall contain the required number of signatures and be filed within the time required, the president of the board shall verify that such candidate is a resident of the supervisor's district in which he seeks election and that such candidate is otherwise qualified as provided by law, and shall certify the same to the chairman or secretary of the county election commission and the names of the candidates shall be placed upon the ballot for the ensuing election. (emphasis added)

In response to your second question, Section 23–15–135 provides:

“The registration books of the several voting precincts of each county and the pollbooks heretofore in use shall be delivered to the registrar of the county, and they, together with the registration books and pollbooks hereafter made, shall be records of his office, and he shall carefully preserve the same as such; and after each election the pollbooks shall be speedily returned to the office of the registrar.” (emphasis added)

Since the circuit clerk as the county registrar is the custodian of the registration books and pollbooks, it is the opinion of this office that he, acting personally or through a deputy, is the appropriate official to check a candidate's petition to determine the correct number of qualified electors who have personally signed said petition unless otherwise provided by statute. Section 23–15–213 supra, specifically requires the registrar to certify the number of signatures of qualified electors on the petitions of candidates for the office of election commissioner.

Sincerely,

Mike Moore Attorney General.