Mississippi Advisory Opinions September 11, 1984: AGO 000010334 (September 11, 1984)

AGO 000010334.

Dear Mr. Fortenberry:

Attorney General Edwin Lloyd Pittman has received your opinion request and has assigned it to me for research and reply.

Your letter states:

"With reference to the Memorandum received from you concerning Dual voter Registration I need your opinions on the following questions:

1. Can a person living in a rural area of the county go to the nearest municipality and register or is it limited to those living within the municipality?

2. Is the date of application for registra- tion the effective date of registration in both the county and municipality?

3. May the City Clerks whom I appoint as Deputy Registrars begin to function as such as soon as the application forms become abailable or must they wait until they are approved and commissioned as Deputy Registrars by the State Board of Election Commissioners?"

1. Section 23-5-203, Mississippi Code of 1972, as amended by ch. 457, Laws of 1984, includes the following language at # 6 thereof:

"Any person desiring an application for registration may secure the same from the registrar of the county of which he is a resident and may take said form with him and secure assistance in completing said form from any person of the applicant's choice.

It shall be the duty of all registrars to furnish forms for registering to all persons requesting the same, and it shall likewise be his duty to furnish aid and assistance in the completing of said forms when requested by an applicant. The application for registration shall be sworn to and subscribed before the registrar or deputy registrar at the munici- pal clerk's office, the county registrar's office or any other location where the applicant is allowed to vote."

The statute gives wide latitude so as to allow easier access to voter registration. The answer is "yes", a person living in a rural area of the county can go to the nearest municipality in that county and register in that county if the municipality has a population of 500 or more, the clerk/deputy registrar is a full-time employee and the office is held open "for regular hours each day."

2. The voter registration will have the same date of registration both in the county and in the city.

3. Section 23-5-7, ibid, as amended by ch. 460- of the Laws of 1984, empowers the (county) registrar to appoint deputy registrars with the consent of the (state) board of election commissioners, but it also designates the municipal clerk of each municipality with a population of 500 or more as such deputy registrar. Although the Act became effective immediately after "approval" by the Department of Justice, the clerks' appointment as deputy registrars would still have to be approved by the State Election Commission prior to acting as such deputy registrars.

Again, the clerk/deputy registrar would have to be a full-time employee and the office held open for "regular hours each day."

Yours very truly,

EDWIN LLOYD PITTMAN, ATTORNEY GENERAL

BY: Richard M. Allen Special Assistant Attorney General

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