Mississippi Improves Absentee Voting & Election Integrity
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JACKSON, Miss. – Yesterday, H.B. 1406 was enacted as law. This legislation will significantly improve absentee voting and election security in Mississippi.
Statement from Secure Democracy Foundation Director of Advocacy Evan Preston:
“This new law will improve the voting process for Mississippians and help clerks continue to run secure and fair elections. We thank lawmakers for prioritizing this legislation in a busy session and look forward to working with them next year to pass other common sense election policies, including in-person early voting, voting rights restoration, and a codified ballot cure process.”
Some of the key improvements H.B. 1406 will make to Mississippi elections include:
- Enhancing access to absentee voting for working Mississippians, people with disabilities, and incarcerated voters. The new law creates absentee-voting opportunities for people on-call for work during Election Day when polls are open, such as first responders, nurses, and doctors, and individuals in jail or prison who are registered in the county where they are incarcerated. The law also clarifies the rule allowing any citizen with a temporary or permanent physical disability to vote absentee.
- Improving the ability for clerks to verify voter identity and resolve any issues with absentee ballots. H.B. 1406 will also make the absentee ballot application design easier for voters to fill out.
- Leveraging existing security checks and balances in place, thereby improving the in-person absentee voting process for voters and clerks. Clerks will verify a voter’s identity by reviewing their photo ID and registration status, rather than requiring the redundant step of signature matching since the voter is present before the clerk.
To view a fact sheet with more detail on this legislation, click here.