Mississippi 2024 General Election Voter Guide: What to know before you go vote

• From Voter ID to what not to wear, Mississippi voters should be prepared to cast their ballot on Tuesday.

The November 5th General Election is now less than a week away. Voters in Mississippi and across America will cast their ballot for the next President and Vice President of the United States, as well as for a number of other federal, state and local offices.

READ MORE: See who’s on the ballot in Mississippi

Here is what Mississippians should know before heading to the polls on Tuesday.

Have your ID ready

Mississippi requires voters to show an acceptable form of ID before receiving a ballot. Valid forms of ID include:

• Mississippi driver’s license
• U.S. passport
• Military or government issued ID card
• Tribal photo ID
• College or university issued student ID
• Mississippi Voter Identification Card

For a full list of acceptable ID options, click here.

If a voter does not present a valid ID, they are still entitled to cast an affidavit ballot if they choose. The voter must then present an acceptable form of photo ID in the Circuit or Municipal Clerk’s Office within five business days after Election Day or risk their ballot being rejected. That deadline this election is November 13.

What not to wear or do while voting

Campaigning within 150 feet of any entrance to a polling place is unlawful, unless it is on private property. This includes wearing campaign merchandise or distributing campaign materials.

Taking photos of a marked ballot is also prohibited.

Loitering within 30 feet of any entrance to a polling location is not allowed, with the exception of election officials, voters waiting to vote, or authorized poll watchers.

Know where to vote

The Mississippi Secretary of State’s office can help with knowing where to vote if you are unsure. Simply click here for the Polling Place Locator or contact your local county Circuit Clerk’s office.

When do polling places open and close

Polls for the November 5th General Election will open at 7:00 a.m. and close at 7:00 p.m.

Any voter in line at 7:00 p.m. is legally entitled to cast a ballot.

Need assistance?

Voters who require assistance in marking their ballot because of disability, blindness, or an
inability to read or write are entitled to receive assistance from a person of the voter’s choice.

However, it cannot be a candidate whose name is on the ballot, or the spouse, parent, sibling or child of a candidate whose name is on the ballot.

In addition, the assistance cannot come from a poll watcher who is observing in the polling place on Election Day, or the voter’s employer or agent of that employer, or officer or agent of the voter’s union; unless, however, a candidate for office or the spouse, parent or child of a candidate is related within the first degree to the voter requesting assistance.

How to report a problem

The Secretary of State’s office reminds voters that they have no enforcement authority over election-related issues.

As such, any problems at the polls observed by state observers or otherwise reported to the Secretary of State’s Elections Division will be referred to the authorities, including the Attorney General’s Office or the appropriate local District Attorney’s Office.

Still time to vote absentee

Voters who know they will not be able to make it to the polls Election Day can still vote absentee through Saturday, November 2, at their local county Circuit Clerk’s office. The offices will close at noon.

Under Mississippi law, the following categories of people are entitled to vote by in-person absentee ballot:

1. Any qualified elector who is a bona fide student, teacher or administrator at any college, university, junior college, high, junior high, or elementary grade school whose studies or employment at such institution necessitates his or her absence from the county of his or her voting residence on the date of any primary, general or special election, or the spouse and dependents of that student, teacher or administrator if such spouse or dependent(s) maintain a common domicile, outside of the county of his or her voting residence, with such student, teacher or administrator.
2. Any qualified elector who is required to be away from his or her place of residence on any election day due to his or her employment as an employee of a member of the Mississippi congressional delegation and the spouse and dependents of such person if he or she shall be residing with such absentee voter away from the county of the spouse’s voting residence.
3. Any qualified elector who is away from his or her county of residence on election day for any reason.
4. Any person who has a temporary or permanent physical disability and who, because of such disability, is unable to vote in person without substantial hardship to himself, herself or others, or whose attendance at the voting place could reasonably cause danger to himself, herself or others.
5. The parent, spouse or dependent of a person with a temporary or permanent physical disability who is hospitalized outside of his or her county of residence or more than fifty (50) miles distant from his or her residence, if the parent, spouse or dependent will be with such person on election day.
6. Any person who is sixty-five (65) years of age or older.
7. Any member of the Mississippi congressional delegation absent from Mississippi on election day, and the spouse and dependents of such member of the congressional delegation.
8. Any qualified elector who will be unable to vote in person because he or she is required to be at work on election day during the time at which the polls will be open or on-call during the times when the polls will be open.

Those entitled to vote absentee by mail-in ballot include:

1. Any person incarcerated and not convicted of a disenfranchising crime
2. Any person who is temporarily residing outside of their county of residence, and the ballot must be mailed to an address outside the county.
3. Any person who has a temporary or permanent physical disability and who, because of such disability, is unable to vote in person without substantial hardship to himself, herself or others, or whose attendance at the voting place could reasonably cause danger to himself, herself or others.
4. The parent, spouse or dependent of a person with a temporary or permanent physical disability who is hospitalized outside of his or her county of residence or more than fifty (50) miles distant from his or her residence, if the parent, spouse or dependent will be with such person on election day.
5. Any person who is sixty-five (65) years of age or older.

The Secretary of State’s office reminds voters that those voters who requested a mail-in absentee ballot must return the ballot postmarked by November 5 – Election Day. It must be received by their county Circuit Clerk office by November 13.