Mississippi Advisory Opinions July 13, 1982: AGO 000003546 (July 13, 1982)

AGO 000003546.

Dear Mr. Hall:

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

"The June 1, 1982, primary was our county's first use of the punch-card voting devices and automatic tabulating equipment purchased under authority of Section 23-7-301 et seq. of the 1972 Mississippi Code.

"It would seem logical that the persons assigned by the election officials to operate the automatic vote-counting or tabulating equipment under Section 23-7-323, but who serve no other function in such election than to operate such equipment, should be entitled to compensation for their services. However, looking at Section 23-5-183, I find that this does not specifically include or exclude such personnel. May such persons who operate the automatic vote- counting or tabulating equipment at the counting center be paid the standard daily fee provided for managers, clerks, and election bailiffs or is there some other provision that they may be compensated?"

Mississippi Code Annotated 23-7-323 (1972) provides in part as follows:

"All proceedings at the counting center shall be under the direction of the commissioners of elections or officials in charge of the

"election, and shall be conducted under the observation of the public, but no persons except those authorized for the purpose shall touch any ballot or ballot card or return.

All persons who are engaged in processing and counting of the ballots shall be deputized in writing and take an oath that they will faithfully perform their assigned duties. persons assigned to operate the automatic tabulating equipment shall submit evidence satisfactory to the commissioners of elections or officials in charge of the elections of their expert qualifications to operate said equipment." (Emphasis added)

In response to your inquiry, we find no statute which sets the amount of compensation for operators of automatic tabulating equipment.

Therefore, it is the opinion of this office that a county board of supervisors has discretionary authority to provide reasonable compensation for persons assigned to operate automatic tabulating equipment pursuant to the above quoted statute. However, the amount paid cannot exceed that paid the the election commissioners.

Furthermore, operators of the tabulating equipment may not be paid for such work if they are otherwise to be paid for election work.

Very truly yours,

BILL ALLAIN, ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY

Phillip C. Carter Special Assistant Attorney General

PCC:ls