Saturday in-person absentee voting available Oct. 26, Nov. 2 in Mississippi

• As of Monday, 67,802 absentee ballots have been received in the state of Mississippi for the 2024 November General Election.

Voters who struggle to cast their ballot during the week have two upcoming Saturdays to vote in the November General Election.

Circuit clerk offices across Mississippi will be open from 8:00 a.m. to noon for in-person absentee voting on Saturday, October 26, and Saturday, November 2.

Absentee ballots can also mailed to voters through a request to their county Circuit Clerk office. The Secretary of State’s office reminds voters that those mail-in absentee ballots must be postmarked by November 5 – Election Day – and received by their county Circuit Clerk office by November 13.

As of Monday – two weeks before Election Day – the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office released that the Statewide Election Management System reported a total of 86,525 absentee ballots had been requested and 84,636 absentee ballots were sent.

Of that, 67,802 absentee ballots have been received in the state of Mississippi for the 2024 November General Election, up about 10,000 from the prior week.

Nearly 234,000 Mississippians had their votes accepted in the 2020 election by way of an absentee ballot. In 2016’s November General Election, just over 103,000 absentee ballots were accepted.

Voting Absentee in Mississippi

The in-person absentee voting deadline is November 2nd.

Circuit Clerk offices will be open around the state to accept absentee ballots during normal business hours 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday as well as 8 a.m. until noon on Saturday, October 26th and Saturday, November 2nd.

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.