Sen. Jeremy England, R-Vancleave, presents legislation in the Senate Chamber at the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. Lawmakers in both chambers are considering bills that survived their committee deadline. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
- Senator Jeremy England said this is now at the point where being one of only three states without early voting is causing confusion and frustration in Mississippi elections.
State Senator Jeremy England (R) is hopeful that his early voting bill will be viewed favorably by his colleagues across the Capitol this session after a joint committee hearing was held last fall to vet the issue further.
READ MORE: Lawmakers hold joint hearing on early voting, online voter registration
England, chairman of the Senate Elections Committee, told Magnolia Tribune on Friday that his bill – SB 2654 – is similar to the legislation he filed in 2024. That bill, which passed the Senate by a vote of 44 to 8, ultimately died in the House.
State Representative Noah Sanford (R), chairman of the House Apportionment and Elections Committee, said at the time that killing the bill was not entirely due to an opposition of early voting, but the need for more information on how the process would work.
Senator England is proposing Mississippi implement 15 days of early voting prior to an Election Day, excluding Sundays and ending the Saturday before the scheduled election. The measure would eliminate the need for in-person absentee voting, but mail-in absentee voting would still be accessible.
“With the extensive national news coverage we saw in the last Presidential Election and the huge early voting turnouts nationwide, we had many Mississippians showing up at their clerks’ offices asking to early vote,” Senator England said. “They were disappointed when they were told we don’t have early voting in Mississippi, and they were turned away.”
England said this is now at the point where being one of only three states without early voting is causing confusion and frustration in elections.
According to NBC News data from January 9, 2025, there were 88,380,679 mail-in and early in-person votes cast nationally in the 2024 presidential election. Of that number, 41 percent were Democrats and 38 percent were Republicans.
“Mississippians now want the same chance to cast their vote in a convenient and still safe and secure way as they see being done in most other parts of the country,” Senator England contends.
England’s early voting bill has been referred to the Senate committee he chairs.
Over in the House, early voting bills have been filed by State Representatives Omeria Scott (D), Orlando Paden (D), Gene Newman (R), Hester Jackson McCray (D), and Earle Banks (D).
Frank Corder
