Secretary of State Gibbert Hosemann issued the following recommendations on revising Mississippi's election laws.
Complete Revision of Mississippi Election Laws
In
a press conference today, Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann announced
a proposed complete revision of Mississippi Election Laws.
The Secretary of State’s Election Code Study Group has
recommended strengthening, updating and reorganizing the state’s
election laws.
“Following
implementation of a voter identification requirement by Mississippians,
it is time to address outdated and inefficient election laws which have,
in some cases, been on the books for decades.
These proposals make it easier to cast your ballot, harder for someone
to cheat the electorate and provide severe penalties for those who do.
Its goal is to help ensure the integrity of our most precious right to
cast a ballot in a free and fair election.”
stated Secretary Hosemann.
“This
proposed Legislation also addresses the voting public’s right to know
who is putting mailouts in their mailbox and who is paying for them.
This allows the voter to gauge credibility of the
publication and the candidates for public office and their supporters
to respond.” said Secretary Hosemann.
The majority of the
updates bring Mississippi’s laws up to date with current elections
procedures and technology. The major changes are as follows:
·Consolidates all election crimes in Chapter 13, Title 97 of the Mississippi Code
·Updates penalties to match fines and sentences applied to other felonies and misdemeanors
Online Voter Registration
·
Modernizes and streamlines Mississippi’s voter registration system
·Brings Mississippi in line with over half the United States which allows for online registration
·Will allow United States citizens who are
Mississippi residents who possess a Mississippi driver’s license or DPS
issued identification card to register electronically
·Will help eliminate errors and reduce costs of paper registrations
Pre-Election Day Voting
·Creates a twenty-one (21) day no excuse voting period for citizens to cast their ballot before election day.
· Voting will be conducted only at the County Courthouse during the pre-election voting period
·Any registered voter may cast a final vote during the pre-election voting period
·Eliminates the need for in-person absentee voting
Financial Disclosures to Voters
· Moves deadline for political committees to
file a statement of organization from ten (10) days after receiving or
spending funds, to forty-eight (48) hours after spending or receiving
funds.
·Increases transparency by requiring filers to itemize payments made to credit card issuers, banks, or online payment portals
·Places sanctions on political committees that fail to make required filings with the Secretary of State
Presidential Primary
·Moves Mississippi’s Presidential Preference Primary from the second Tuesday in March to the first Tuesday
·Will make Mississippi have a stronger voice in choosing the presidential nominees
6 comments:
Kudos to the Secretary on these proposals. Unfortunately, Mississippi legislators aren't interested in increasing voter turnout. Online voter registration and pre-election day voting make sense where you want to maximize voter participation in the democratic process, but, we live Mississippians seem to live in democratic bizarro world.
Excellent work by SOS
Mostly good. But, keep the primary on March 8 (MS will get much more press with fewer states holding primaries that day). And make the online election site with precinct results easier to navigate. Only Alabama has a worse setup.
He actually took a day off from Autism Lobbying?
Mediocre work. Didn't address the issues that need to be fixed in our antiquated system, but using this as a podium to press his favorite issues - early voting and the SEC primary.
Early voting is nothing but a system to help incumbents and provide much better opportunity for more voter fraud. Hosemann has been claiming its nothing but a replacement for absentee voting, which is absolute crap. He hasn't been able to convince anyone of importance to join his bandwagon so he is trying to push it thru this way.
The SEC primary was shouted down by even his own party - the Repubs. Oh, that's right - Hosemann considers himself as a king and therefore the party is part of his reign. Moving to the earlier week would do nothing but lessen our importance in the process - and is no longer even the SEC concept he claimed last fall when he promised his buddy in GA that we would be there with them.
Delbert - go back to lobbying for autism where you at least have a little bit of personal experience. You have proven for years that you know little of anything about election laws.
These recommendations coming from the office that was shown today to not know the current law. ASOS testified in Eaton hearing about advice given to Smith County that was different from Supreme Court opinion on the issue. Guess the Smith County folks called for advice on the wrong day.
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