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Mississippi Statutes § 23-15-641 Grounds for rejection of ballots; procedure

⤴ Up to Subarticle A: Absentee Balloting Procedures Law

Statute Text

(1) For all absentee votes received by mail, if an affidavit or the certificate of the officer before whom the affidavit is taken is required and such affidavit or certificate is found to be insufficient, or if it is found that the signatures do not correspond, or that the applicant is not a duly qualified elector in the precinct, or otherwise qualified to vote, or that the ballot envelope is open or has been opened and resealed, [* * *] the previously cast vote shall not be allowed. Without opening the voter's envelope the resolution board shall mark across its face "REJECTED", with the reason therefor.
(2) For all absentee votes received by mail, if the ballot envelope contains more than one (1) ballot of any kind, the ballot shall not be counted but shall be marked "REJECTED", with the reason therefor, and the registrar shall promptly notify the voter of such rejection. The voter's envelopes and affidavits, and the voter's envelope with its contents unopened, when such vote is rejected, shall be retained and preserved in the same manner as other ballots at the election. Such votes may be challenged in the same manner and for the same reasons that any other vote cast in such election may be challenged.
(3) If an affidavit is required and the officials find that the affidavit is insufficient, or if the officials find that the absentee voter is otherwise disqualified to vote, the envelope shall not be opened and [* * *] the resolution board shall write across the face of the envelope "REJECTED" giving the reason therefor, and the registrar shall promptly notify the voter of such rejection.
(4) The ballots marked "REJECTED" shall be placed in a separate envelope in the secure ballot transfer case and delivered to the officials in charge of conducting the election at the central tabulation point of the county.
(5) All electors voting absentee shall be provided with written information to inform the person how to ascertain whether his or her ballot was counted and, if rejected, the reason therefor.
(6) A signature mismatch shall not be grounds for rejecting an absentee ballot that was cast in the registrar's office. A portion of the elector's signature extending outside of the box shall not be grounds for rejecting that elector's ballot.

Source

Derived from 1972 Code § 23-9-419 [Codes, 1942, § 3203-403; Laws, 1972, ch. 490. § 403; repealed by Laws, 1986, ch. 495, § 341]; Laws, 1986, ch. 495, § 208; Laws, 1993, ch. 528, § 11; Laws, 2006 , ch. 574 , § 20 , eff. 6/5/2006 (the date the United States Attorney General interposed no objection under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965).

History

Amended by Laws, 2024 , ch. 536 , HB 1406 , § 5 , eff. 7/1/2024 .

Amended by Laws, 2020 , ch. 472 , HB 1521 , § 14 , eff. 7/8/2020 .

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Prior Versions of This Statute