Mississippi Advisory Opinions April 02, 1980: AGO 000001653 (April 2, 1980)

AGO 000001653.

Dear Mr. Whitten:

Attorney General Bill Allain has received your opinion re- quest dated March 26, 1980 and has assigned it to me for research and reply, your letter of request stating:

"As you will recall I have talked to you twice by telephone concerning the upcoming election of Commissioners to the Yazoo-Mississippi Del- ta Levee Board. A couple of the Commissioners are not 'Democrats'. One was elected as a Re- publican and another as a Independent. In the county where the Republican was elected there apparently will be no primary election for Re- publicans this year. Therefore, this man will also have to qualify in some other manner for the General Election to be held in November, 1980.

"Section 3260, Mississippi Code of 1942, was very specific about how an Independent might qualify.

However, when this section was brought forward to the 1972 Code as Section 23-5-133, a good por- tion of the text was omitted. I am inclined to recommend to these people that they file a peti- tion containing at least 50 names and that the petition be filed with the Election Commission in their respective counties at least 60 days prior to the November General Election. Would this, in your opinion, be sufficient?"

It is up to each political party to arrange for its own pri- mary machinery. And, in the absence of party primary elec- tions (the deadline for qualifying in such being Friday, April 4, 1980), the only other way for a person to qualify for an elective office in 1980, including the office of Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee Board Commissioner, is as an Independent candidate under Section 23-5-134, Missis- sippi Code of 1972, as amended, rather than under Section 23-5-133, ibid, or Section 3260, Mississippi Code of 1972, having to do with United States Senators and Representa- tives.

For an Independent to qualify as a candidate for the post, other than as a party nominee, (it being an office elected by the qualified electors of the county), he or she would be required to file a qualifying petition of "not less than fifty (50) qualified electors" not less than sixty (60) days prior to the November 4, 1980 General Election, or not later than September 5, 1980.

For your information, I enclose a copy of this office's opinion written by Deputy Attorney General W. D. Coleman, dated April 4, 1980, to Circuit Clerk Mabel White.

Yours very truly,

BILL ALLAIN, ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY:

Richard M. Allen Special Assistant Attorney General

RMA/ped Enclosure