Mississippi House of Representatives (Photo from Speaker Jason White on Facebook)
- The Mississippi House sent 25 measures to the Senate on Thursday while the Senate passed 7 of their own the prior day. It remains to be seen if any of the bills clear both chambers.
The Mississippi House of Representatives passed 25 suffrage bills on to Senate, seeking to restore the right to vote to persons who have served their prison time and made retribution for crimes without further incident.
The state Senate passed seven of its own suffrage bills on Wednesday, sending six over to the House for consideration with one held on a motion to reconsider.
State Rep. Daryl Porter (D) said the suffrage bills met the same requirements as the suffrage bills passed in previous sessions, which means the persons have completed their sentences, paid the ordered restitution, if any, and have not had subsequent infractions in at least the last five years.
State Rep. William Arnold (R) asked about the likelihood of the Senate taking the bills up, which would enable them to reach the governor’s desk if that body concurred.
“I’m all about mercy and grace, but do you think the Senate’s going to take this up on the other end?” Arnold asked.
“Gentleman, I don’t pretend to know what the Senate does on that side,” Porter said. “I do know that they took up seven bills, seven, and we’re going to send them about 48 [this session].”
“It won’t be the first time we’ve done more, gentleman,” added Speaker Jason White.
Through an en bloc vote, the 25 suffrage bills considered Thursday passed the House by a vote of 94 to 10.
A clerical error resulted in one bill being included in the initial en bloc vote, but was rectified when that bill was brought back up separately, passing by a 95 to 2 vote. It was then held on a motion to reconsider.
It remains to be seen whether any of the suffrage restoration bills clear both chambers as the session winds down.
