Mississippi Advisory Opinions January 26, 1989: AGO 000008587 (January 26, 1989)

AGO 000008587.

Dear Mr. Lawrence:

Attorney General Mike Moore has received your letter requesting an opinion from this office and has assigned it to me for research and reply.

Your letter states as follows:

The City of Crystal Springs recently completed the process of annexation. Under Mississippi's "one stop"voter registration laws, will persons in the annexed area who are registered voters for County elections prior to annexation, be automatically registered by City registration for those persons in the annexed area?

Section 23-15-39(8), Miss. Code Ann. (Supp. 1988), provides as follows:

(8) In any case in which a municipality expands its corporate boundaries by annexation, the municipal clerk shall, within ten (10) days after the effective date of such annexation, forward to the county registrar a map which accurately depicts the annexed area. The county registrar shall, within ten (10) days after the receipt of such map, forward to the municipal clerk a copy of the most recent county precinct or subprecinct pollbook for the county precincts in which such annexed area is included, or equivalent computer data or information as will permit the identification of county electors who reside in the annexed area. The municipal clerk shall add those county electors who have resided in the annexed area for at least thirty (30) days after annexation to the municipal registration books as registered voters of the municipality and shall forward to such persons written notification of such addition and of the municipal precinct or ward in which such persons reside.

In accordance with the above statute, it is the opinion of this office that county electors who have resided in the annexed area for at least thirty (30) days from and after the effective date of the annexation are to be automatically registered for city elections.

We hope that we have been responsive to your inquiry. If we can be of further assistance, do not hesitate to let us know.

Sincerely,

Mike Moore, Attorney General

By: Giles W. Bryant Special Assistant Attorney General

/jw