Polls for the 2020 Primary Election open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 10, 2020. Any voter in line at 7 p.m. is entitled to cast a ballot. Mississippians can vote for the party nominees for United States President, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House of Representatives. In Mississippi, Primary Elections are conducted by political parties, but our office will have observers in precincts across the state. Problems observed at the polls or otherwise reported to the Elections Division will be referred to the authorities, including the Attorney General’s Office or appropriate District Attorney’s Office, as the Secretary of State’s Office has no enforcement authority.
Important reminders for Election Day include the following:
- Absentee Voting Deadline: The deadline for mail-in absentee ballots is today, Monday, March 9, 2020. Circuit Clerks Offices must be in actual receipt of the absentee ballot by 5 p.m. Absentee ballots received on Tuesday will be counted for the Presidential race only. UOCAVA voters, including service members deployed outside their county of residence, must absentee vote by 7 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, March 10, 2020.
- Polling Place Locator/Sample Ballots: A polling place locator is available on the Secretary of State’s Y’all Vote website (http://yallvote.sos.ms.gov/). A sample ballot specific to the voter’s polling place is located on the Polling Place Locator page.
- Voter Photo ID: Voters are required to show photo identification at the polls. A voter without an acceptable form of photo identification is entitled to cast an affidavit ballot. An affidavit ballot may be counted if the voter provides an acceptable form of photo identification to the Circuit Clerk’s Office within five business days after the election. For more information, visit www.msvoterID.ms.gov. A REAL ID (an ID with a gold star in the corner) is not required to vote.
- Campaigning: It is unlawful to campaign for any candidate within 150 feet of any entrance to a polling place, unless on private property.
- Loitering: No loitering is allowed within 30 feet of the entrance of a polling place. The only people allowed within 30 feet of a polling place entrance are elections officials, voters waiting to vote, or authorized poll watchers. Exit pollsters may approach voters after voting if more than 30 feet from polls.
- Camera Phones: Voters are prohibited from taking pictures of their marked ballot.
For more information about state election laws or Election Day information, visit the Y’all Vote website at http://yallvote.sos.ms.gov/, or call the Elections Division Hotline at (601) 576-2550 or 1-800-829-6786.
Secretary of State Michael Watson Press Release
3/9/2020
