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 17 - CONDUCT OF ELECTIONS (§§ 23-15-541 — 23-15-615) › Subarticle A - GENERAL PROVISIONS (§§ 23-15-541 — 23-15-563) › Section 23-15-541 - Hours polls to be open; designation and duties of initialing poll manager and alternate initialing poll manager; curbside voting authorized for certain individuals; procedure

(1)
At all elections, the polls shall be opened promptly at 7:00 a.m. and be kept open until the last qualified voter, who was standing in line at the polling place at 7:00 p.m., has cast his or her ballot, or 7:00 p.m., whichever is later. One (1) hour before opening the polls, and not before, the poll managers shall designate two (2) of their number, other than the poll manager who was designated as the receiving and returning poll manager, who shall be known respectively as the initialing poll manager and the alternate initialing poll manager. The alternate initialing poll manager, in the absence of the initialing poll manager, shall perform all of the duties and undertake all of the responsibilities of the initialing poll manager. When any person entitled to vote shall appear to vote, the poll managers shall locate the name of the voter in the pollbook, identify the voter by requiring the voter to submit acceptable photo identification as required by Section
23-15-563
, and then allow the voter to sign his or her name in a receipt book or booklet provided for that purpose and to be used at that election only. After the voter has signed the receipt book or booklet, the initialing poll manager or, in his or her absence, the alternate initialing poll manager shall endorse his or her initials on the back of an official blank ballot, prepared in accordance with law, and at such place on the back of the ballot that the initials may be seen after the ballot has been marked and folded, and when so endorsed he or she shall deliver it to the voter, which ballot the voter shall mark in the manner provided by law, which when done the voter shall deliver the ballot to the initialing poll manager or, in his or her absence, to the alternate initialing poll manager, in the presence of the others, and the poll manager shall see that the ballot so delivered bears on the back thereof the genuine initials of the initialing poll manager, or alternate initialing poll manager, and if so, but not otherwise, the ballot shall be put into the ballot box; and when so done one (1) of the poll managers shall mark the pollbook "VOTED" across from the name of the voter and in the appropriate column. If the voter is unable to write his or her name on the receipt book, a poll manager shall note on the back of the ballot that it was receipted for by the poll manager's assistance.
(2)
A poll manager shall be authorized to allow a physically disabled person to vote curbside during the hours in which the polls are open as described in this section.
(a)
Where the poll managers of an election, exercising their sound discretion, determine that a physically disabled person has arrived at the polls in a motor vehicle to vote, two (2) poll managers shall carry the pollbook, the receipt book, and a ballot or voting device to the motor vehicle. After determining the disabled person is a qualified elector as provided by law by locating the disabled elector's name in the pollbook, the poll managers shall identify the disabled elector by requiring the elector to submit acceptable photo identification as required by Section
23-15-563
and then allow the elector to sign his or her name in the receipt book and cast his or her ballot in secret. To ensure the secrecy of the vote of the disabled elector, other passengers in the motor vehicle, except the disabled elector and any other disabled persons in the motor vehicle, shall exit the motor vehicle until the disabled elector has completed the casting of his or her ballot. After the disabled elector casts his or her ballot, the poll managers shall mark "VOTED" by the elector's name and in the appropriate column in the pollbook.
(b)
If the ballot that is provided to the disabled elector is a paper ballot, the initialing poll manager shall initial the ballot as provided by law, and the disabled elector, after marking his or her ballot shall fold the ballot or place it in the ballot sleeve. The initialing poll manager or alternate initialing poll manager shall determine whether the initials on the ballot are genuine, and upon a determination that the initials are genuine, mark "VOTED" by the elector's name and in the appropriate column in the pollbook. The initialing poll manager or alternate initialing poll manager shall without delay place the ballot in the ballot box.
(c)
If, while a voter is voting by curbside, there are less than three (3) poll managers immediately present within the polling place conducting an election, all voting at the polls shall stop until the poll managers conducting the curbside voting return to the polls so that there are at least three (3) poll managers immediately present within the polling place to conduct the election, and until a minimum of three (3) poll managers are present, the remaining poll manager or poll managers shall ensure the security of the ballot box, the voting devices, and any ballots and election materials.
(3)
Nothing in this section shall prevent a voter from requesting voter assistance as provided in Section
23-15-549
.
Derived from 1972 Code § 23-3-13 [(Codes, 1942, § 3164; Laws, 1935, ch. 19; Laws, 1960, ch. 448) and § 23-5-147 (Codes, Hutchinson's 1848, ch. 7, art 5 (6); 1857, ch. 4, art 12; 1871, §§ 370, 371; 1880, § 136; 1892, § 3648; 1906, § 4155; Hemingway's 1917, § 6789; 1930, § 6238; 1942, § 3267; Laws, 1916, ch. 230; Laws, 1960, ch. 451; Laws, 1964, ch. 511, § 1) repealed by Laws, 1986, ch. 495, §§ 333, 335]; Laws, 1986, ch. 495, § 170; Laws, 1993, ch. 528, § 4; Laws, 2008, ch. 528, § 8, ; Laws, 2012, ch. 526, § 5, eff. 8/5/2013 (the date of the United States Attorney General's response to the submission of this section under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965).
Amended by Laws, 2017, ch. 441, HB 467, 108, eff. 4/18/2017.