Mississippi Voting Rules

CLICK HERE TO VERIFY IF YOU ARE REGISTERED TO VOTE

Mississippi: Voting at the Polls on Election Day

Poll Hours: 7:00 AM-7:00 PM

Mississippi's voter ID law

An elector who votes in person in a primary or general election shall present government-issued photo identification before being allowed to vote. Voters who live and vote in a state-licensed care facility are exempt.

Beginning with Elections held in the State of Mississippi occurring on or after June 3, 2014, each qualified elector, who is not exempt from these requirements and who appears in person to vote by absentee ballot in the Registrar’s Office or Municipal Clerk’s Office, or who appears to vote at his or her polling place on an election day, must identify himself or herself by presenting

Acceptable Photographic Identification as defined by Rule 1.1(A) before the elector may cast his or her ballot and vote

'Acceptable Photographic Identification' means a current and valid:

• Mississippi driver's license,

• Identification card, including, but not limited to, an employee identification card containing a photograph of the elector, issued by a branch, department, agency or entity of the State of Mississippi,

• United States passport,

• Employee identification card containing a photograph of the elector issued by any branch, department, agency or entity of the United States government

• PPI license containing a photograph of the elector to carry a pistol or revolver,

• Tribal identification card containing a photograph of the elector,

• United States military identification card containing a photograph of the elector

• Student identification card, containing a photograph of the elector, issued by an accredited college, university or community or junior college in the State of Mississippi,

• Mississippi Voter Identification Card, and

• Photo identification issued by any branch, department, agency or entity of the United States government or any state government including, but not limited to, a driver’s license issued by a state other than Mississippi.

Mississippi Touch and Vote:Practice voting on the TSX Machine with the Interactive Touch and Vote Demo

Who Can Register Vote In Mississippi?

Under federal law, if you move within 30 days of a presidential election, you are allowed to vote for President and Vice President in your former state of residence, either in person or by absentee ballot. To vote in the state of Mississippi you must register to vote 30 days before the election day. Your application must be postmarked at least 30 days before the election in which you want to vote.

How to Register to Vote?

• For a mail-in application, call your county election office or pick one up at the courthouse, public library, or other participating government offices. Mail-in voter registration forms are also available from the Secretary of State's Office.

• In-Person: Voter registration is available at the office of the County Circuit Clerk or Municipal. Voter registration is also available when applying for or renewing your driver's license, or when applying for services at numerous state and federal government agencies.

To register to vote in the State of Mississippi, you must be:

• A United States Citizen,

• A Resident of Mississippi, except persons, judicially declared mentally incompetent

• A resident of the state, county, and supervisor's district for 30 days

• 18 years of age or older on Election Day

• Has never been convicted of any crime listed in Section 241 of the Mississippi Constitution (murder, rape, bribery, theft, arson, obtaining money or goods under false pretense, perjury, forgery, embezzlement, or bigamy)

DOWNLOAD VOTER'S REGISTRATION FORM HERE

Mover's Guide: Mississippi

Under federal law, if you move within 30 days of a presidential election, you are allowed to vote for President and Vice President in your former state of residence, either in person or by absentee ballot.

If you moved to Mississippi from another state, you must register to vote in Mississippi to be able to vote. The last day to register in time to vote in the next election is thirty days before the election.

If you moved to a new address that is covered by the same polling place as your old address, you are allowed to vote at that polling place after confirming your change of address. This is true regardless of how close to the election you moved.

If you moved to a new address within the same county but in a different polling place, you are entitled to vote a provisional ballot at your new polling place. You need to sign an affidavit, including your current address and stating that you believe you are registered to vote in the county in order to vote by provisional ballot. The provisional ballot will be counted if you are registered in the county and voted in the precinct in which you currently reside.

If you moved to a new address in a different county, you must register to vote at your new address in the county before the registration deadline.

College Student Voting In Mississippi

Students can establish residency in Mississippi if they have a present intent to remain at their Mississippi school address for the time being, and they intend to make it their principal home.If you moved from another state to attend school in Mississippi, you may vote in Mississippi if (1) you have resided in the county or municipality where you wish to vote for at least 30 days, and (2) you intend to make your school residence your home.

If you moved from Mississippi to attend school in another state but wish to vote in Mississippi elections (i.e., vote from your parents'Mississippi address), you should have no problem doing so, unless you have already registered to vote in another state.Likewise, if you move from one Mississippi county to another to attend school, you may still vote from your original county, unless you register in the county where your school is located.

Who Can Vote In Primaries

Democrats hold: Open Primary ---- Republicans hold: Open Primary

Mississippi law provides that voters must intend to support a party's nominees in the general election in order to participate in the primary election, but there is no way to enforce this rule.

About Open Primary

Voters of any affiliation may vote for the candidate of whatever party they choose. This means that a Democrat could "cross over” and cast a vote in the Republican primary, or vice versa, and an unaffiliated voter can choose either major party's primary.

Some of these open primary states may not have party registration at all; however open primary states do prohibit voters in X primary from going on to participate in Y's primary or runoff. Yet, this prohibition can be difficult to enforce.

Voting by Absentee Ballot in Mississippi

Who can vote absentee or by mail?

• If you are a citizen of Mississippi and a registered voter you may vote absentee if you meet one of the following conditions:

• You are an enlisted or commissioned member of any component of the United States Armed Forces, or spouse or dependent of such member.

• You are a Member of the Merchant Marine or the American Red Cross, or spouse or dependent of such member.

• You are a disabled war veteran who is a patient in any hospital, or the spouse or dependent of such veteran.

• You are a civilian attached to and serving outside of the United States with any branch of the Armed Forces or with the Merchant Marine or American Red Cross, or spouse or dependent of such civilian. You are a citizen of Mississippi temporarily residing outside the territorial limits of the United States and the District of Columbia.

• You are a student, teacher or administrator at a college, university, junior or community college, high, junior high, elementary or grade school, whose studies or employment at such institution necessitates your absence from the county of your voting residence or spouse or dependent of such student, teacher or administrator

• You will be outside the county on election day.

• You have a temporary or permanent physical disability.

• You are sixty-five (65) years of age or older...

MISSISSIPPI ELECTIONS SCHEDULE