More Than 20,000 Absentee Ballots Requested for 2020 Primary Election

As of 7:30 a.m. today, 24,295 Mississippians requested absentee ballots for the March 10 Primary Election, and 21,392 absentee ballots have been returned to Circuit Clerks’ Offices. 

“We are excited to see the increase in absentee voting and hope those numbers equate to a large turnout at the polls today,” said Secretary Michael Watson. “We’re encouraging all Mississippians to exercise their right to vote today.”

Currently, Mississippi has 1,920,958 active registered voters, which is about 4% higher than the number of active voters for the 2016 Presidential Primary Elections (1,848,450). In the 2016 Presidential Primary Elections, 20,842 absentee ballots were requested, with 18,467 absentee ballots returned. The number of absentee votes cast in 2016 Republican Primary Election totaled 11,546, and the number of votes cast in the 2016 Democratic Primary Election totaled 6,921, for a grand total of 18,467 absentee votes cast.

As a reminder, polls are open today from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.  Any voter in line at 7 p.m. is entitled to cast a ballot.  Voters can find their polling place and sample ballots for both party primaries by visiting the Secretary of State’s Polling Place Locator at yallvote.sos.ms.gov.

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.

For more information about State election laws or Election Day information, visit Y’all Vote, 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

3/10/2020