(AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
- Those casting an absentee ballot this year will now insert their completed ballot into a secure electronic voting machine, ending the envelope process. The change is intended to reduce counting delays and increase election integrity.
Absentee voting is now open in Mississippi ahead of the November 3 midterm General Election.
As Mississippi does not allow early voting, those wishing to cast an absentee ballot must assert that their reason for voting by absentee ballot ahead of Election Day meets one of the eligible reasons outlined in state law. Those reasons are listed below.
Voters can cast an absentee ballot at their county Circuit Clerk offices across the state during regular hours Monday through Friday. Mail-in ballots are also available upon request.
For those needing a Saturday option, in-person absentee voting dates are set for Saturday, October 24 and Saturday, October 31, from 8:00 a.m. until noon.
The last day to vote in-person absentee is October 31, and all mail-in absentee ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day.
Change this Year
Lawmakers passed a change to the absentee voting process this year, eliminating the need for the traditional envelope system.
Those voting by absentee ballot at the Circuit Clerk office will now be directed to insert their completed ballot into the secure electronic voting machine, making it part of the Election Day vote total and ending the delay caused by the envelope system.
Prior to the change, those casting an absentee ballot would insert the ballot into an envelope and sign across the flap. The ballots would then be held until Election Day. The envelopes would then be opened by election officials in the days after the election and added to the vote totals.
Advocates for the change pointed to the need to ensure election integrity and maintain security when absentee votes are cast.
Who Can Vote by Absentee Ballot?
Mississippi election law sets forth the following eligible reasons a voter is allowed to cast an absentee ballot:
- A 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 municipality 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.
- A 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 municipality of the spouse’s voting residence.
- A qualified elector who is away from his or her residence within the county on election day for any reason.
- A 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.
- The parent, spouse or dependent of a person with a temporary or permanent physical disability who is hospitalized outside of his or her residence within the county 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.
- A person who is sixty-five (65) years of age or older.
- A member of the Mississippi congressional delegation absent from Mississippi on election day, and the spouse and dependents of such member of the congressional delegation.
- A 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 times at which the polls will be open or on-call during the times when the polls will be open.
What is on the Ballot this November?
The November 3 General Election ballot will include races for U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, Court of Appeals, Chancery and Circuit Judges, and special elections to fill seats in select districts for District Attorney and the Legislature.
For more information on what is on the ballot this midterm cycle, read Magnolia Tribune’s continued election coverage, visit the Mississippi Secretary of State’s website, or contact your local Circuit Clerk for a sample ballot.
