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- This case led the Attorney General’s office to propose ways to strengthen the state’s election laws, one of which came during the 2025 legislative session.
Bobbie Jean Peoples of Greenwood has been sentenced for Transmission of a Ballot Mailed to Another, according to the Mississippi Attorney General’s office.
Prosecutors said that Peoples knowingly collected and transmitted a ballot mailed to another person in July 2023 when she was not authorized by law to do so.
She has now been sentenced by Leflore County Justice Court Judge Jim Campbell to six months in the custody of Mississippi Department of Corrections, with time suspended, and a fine of $2,718.75.
Attorney General Lynn Fitch said Monday that ballot harvesting “undermines trust in the fairness of our elections and we must be vigilant to maintain the integrity of the electoral process.”
“Free and fair elections are a pillar of our democracy,” said Fitch.
The Attorney General told Magnolia Tribune this case led her office to propose ways to strengthen the state’s election laws, one of which came during the 2025 legislative session.
“As a result of our investigation into cases like this one, we were able to identify other weaknesses in Mississippi election law and work with the Legislature to strengthen our ballot harvesting laws in the 2025 session so that every ballot is accounted for,” Fitch said.
Lawmakers passed legislation to strengthen Mississippi’s ballot harvesting laws during the 2025 session, making it a misdemeanor offense to harvest an absentee ballot with the intent of not having it counted in the election.
The original House-backed version of the legislation authored by State Rep. Noah Sanford (R) would have made the willful failure to transmit a voter’s ballot a felony accompanied by no more than three years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine. However, the measure was amended in the Senate Elections Committee, reducing the crime to a misdemeanor as well as lowering the penalties to no more than one year in prison and up to a $1,000 fine.
READ MORE: Lawmakers add criminal penalty for failing to transmit a Mississippi voter’s ballot
The amended version unanimously passed the Senate and was then transmitted to the House for concurrence where it received a 109 to 3 vote of approval. Governor Tate Reeves signed the bill into law in March, and it took effect on July 1.
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