Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 23 - ELECTIONS (§§ 23-NEW-NEW-001 — 23-17-61) › Chapter 15 - MISSISSIPPI ELECTION CODE (§§ 23-15-NEW — 23-15-1111) › Article 3 - VOTER REGISTRATION (§§ 23-15-11 — 23-15-169.7) › Subarticle B - PROCEDURES FOR REGISTRATION (§§ 23-15-31 — 23-15-49) › Section 23-15-35 - Clerk of municipality to be registrar; registration books; form of application for registration; registration of county electors by clerk

(1)
The clerk of the municipality shall be the registrar of voters of the municipality, and shall take the oath of office prescribed by Section 268 of the Constitution. The municipal registration shall conform to the county registration which shall be a part of the official record of registered voters as contained in the Statewide Elections Management System. The municipal clerk shall comply with all the provisions of law regarding the registration of voters, including the use of the voter registration applications used by county registrars and prescribed by the Secretary of State under Sections
23-15-39
and
23-15-47
.
(2)
The municipal clerk shall be authorized to register applicants as county electors. The municipal clerk shall forward notice of registration, a copy of the application for registration, and any changes to the registration when they occur, either by certified mail to the county registrar or by personal delivery to the county registrar provided that a numbered receipt is signed by the county registrar in return for the described documents. Upon receipt of the copy of the application for registration or changes to the registration, and if a review of the application indicates that the applicant meets all the criteria necessary to qualify as a county elector, then the county registrar shall make a determination of the county voting precinct in which the person making the application shall be required to vote. The county registrar shall send this county voting precinct information by United States first-class mail, postage prepaid, to the person at the address provided on the application. Any mailing costs incurred by the municipal clerk or the county registrar in effectuating this subsection (2) shall be paid by the county board of supervisors. If a review of the copy of the application for registration or changes to the registration indicates that the applicant is not qualified to vote in the county, the county registrar shall challenge the application. The county election commissioners shall review any challenge or disqualification, after having notified the applicant by certified mail of the challenge or disqualification.
(3)
The municipal clerk shall issue to the person making the application a copy of the application and the county registrar shall process the application in accordance with the law regarding the handling of voter registration applications.
(4)
The receipt of a copy of the application for registration sent pursuant to Section
23-15-39(3)
shall be sufficient to allow the applicant to be registered as an elector in the municipality, provided that such application is not challenged as provided for therein.
(5)
The municipal clerk of each municipality shall provide the county registrar in which the municipality is located the information necessary to conform the municipal registration to the county registration which shall be a part of the official record of registered voters as contained in the Statewide Elections Management System. If any changes to the information occur as a result of redistricting, annexation or other reason, it shall be the responsibility of the municipal clerk to timely provide the changes to the county registrar.
Derived from 1972 Code § 21-11-3 [Codes, 1892, § 3029; 1906, § 3434; Hemingway's 1917, § 5994; 1930, § 2596; 1942, § 3374-61; Laws, 1904, ch. 158; Laws, 1950, ch. 491, § 61; Laws, 1984, ch 457, § 3; repealed by Laws, 1986, ch. 495, § 329]; Laws, 1986, ch. 495, § 10; Laws, 1988, ch. 350, § 5; Laws, 2004, ch. 305, § 8; Laws, 2006, ch. 574, § 2; Laws, 2007, ch. 565, § 1; Laws, 2008, ch. 532, § 2; brought forward without change, Laws, 2012, ch. 471, § 6, eff. 9/6/2012 (the date the United States Attorney General interposed no objection under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, to the reenactment of this section.).
Amended by Laws, 2017, ch. 441, HB 467, 8, eff. 7/1/2017.