Opinion ID: 1788430
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Was There a Total Departure from the Fundamental Provisions of the Absentee Balloting Procedures Law?

Text: If a statute does not expressly declare that a particular act is essential to the election's validity or that omission of the particular act will render the election void, the statute is considered directory rather than mandatory, so long as the irregular act is not intended to affect the integrity of the election. Riley v. Clayton, 441 So.2d 1322, 1326 (Miss. 1983). If the violated statute is directory rather than mandatory and there is no allegation or proof of fraud, the non-complying ballots are valid and properly counted. Riley, 441 So.2d at 1328. Votes not in compliance with mandatory provisions of election statutes are illegal. Votes illegally cast are improperly counted. Hatcher v. Fleeman, 617 So.2d 634, 640-41 (Miss. 1993). Rogers contends the statutes involved are directory, but admits that the irregularities found by the Special Tribunal might be sufficient to invalidate specific ballots. The Special Tribunal made the following corresponding findings of fact and conclusions of law: Fact Law Absentee ballots came to voters Violation of §§ 23-15-717 who had not requested them XX-XX-XXX XX-XX-XXX Voters did not vote their Violation of §§ 23-15-719 own absentee ballots; XX-XX-XXX attesting witnesses did not witness the votes being made; voters signed electors' certificates without having punched the ballots themselves; absentee ballots were not placed in the envelope, closed, and sealed by the voters While we may not review the facts found by the Special Tribunal in this case, we may question whether the facts as found by the Special Tribunal support its conclusions of law. Mississippi Code Annotated § 23-15-717 (1972) provides that an elector applying for an absentee ballot shall fill in the application form as provided in § 23-15-627. Section 23-15-627 (1972) sets forth the form of the application for an absentee ballot which shall be furnished, by the registrar, to any elector authorized to receive an absentee ballot. Section 23-15-715 (1972) requires electors desiring absentee ballots to appear personally before the county registrar and execute and file an application as provided in § 23-15-627 within a certain time period before the election; if the elector is unable to appear personally for the specific reasons set forth in the statute (disability, temporarily residing out of the county, etc.), he or the parent, spouse, or dependent who will be with the voter on election day, may mail the appropriate application to the registrar. It seems the receipt of absentee ballots by sixteen (16) registered voters, five (5) of whom either did not vote or did not vote absentee, who had neither completed an application form nor requested, in any manner, an absentee ballot, does indeed work a violation of §§ 23-15-717, 23-15-627, and 23-15-715. It follows that the Special Tribunal's legal conclusion, that these statutes had been violated, is correct. Mississippi Code Annotated § 23-15-719 (1972) requires that the elector fill in his absentee ballot, place it in the provided envelope and seal the envelope, then subscribe and swear to an affidavit printed on the back of the envelope which states this envelope contains the ballot marked by me. The Special Tribunal's findings of fact support its conclusion that this statute was violated by eight (8) voters, all but one of whose ballots were previously noted in violation of §§ 23-15-717, 23-15-627, and 23-15-715 (1972). Section 23-15-635 (1972) provides the form for the certificate of attesting witness to be used in conjunction with absentee ballots when the county registrar is not an attesting witness to the vote. The certificate states that the witness watched the voter mark his ballot, the voter was not solicited or advised by me concerning his vote, the voter placed his absentee ballot in the envelope, closed and sealed it, and signed and swore or affirmed the appropriate affidavit. Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-635 (1972). Again, the Special Tribunal's findings of fact support the conclusion that this statute was violated by two (2) voters, whose ballots were also in violation of one or more of the previously mentioned statutes. While no cases have been found addressing whether the provisions of §§ 23-15-717, 23-15-627, 23-15-715, or XX-XX-XXX are directory or mandatory, we have held that § 23-9-413, the predecessor to § 23-15-635 (1972), is mandatory. Shannon v. Henson, 499 So.2d 758, 766 (Miss. 1986); Fouche v. Ragland, 424 So.2d 559, 561 (Miss. 1982). The signature of an attesting witness was found mandatory in part because § 23-9-419 (Supp. 1981) provided that an absentee ballot be rejected if there was a defect in the execution of the outside of the envelope containing an absentee ballot. Fouche, 424 So.2d at 562. More importantly, the provision was found mandatory because the certificate signed by the witness was intended by the Legislature to ensure the integrity of absentee ballots. Fouche, 424 So.2d at 561. The certificate to be signed by an attesting witness pursuant to § 23-15-635 (1972) likewise certifies that the voter executed [his] affidavit, certifies the voter first exhibited a blank ballot which was not marked or voted before it was exhibited to the witness, and that the voter then retired out of the witness' presence but within his sight so that he could see that he voted but not how he voted, that no one was present as he marked his ballot, that the voter was not solicited or advised in voting, and, finally, that after marking his ballot in secret, the voter placed it in the envelope, closed and sealed the envelope in the certifying officer's presence, and then signed and made affidavit to the first certificate. Therefore the provisions of § 23-15-635 (1972) are also mandatory because intended to ensure the integrity of absentee ballots. Fouche, 424 So.2d at 561. Absentee paper ballots, unlike machine votes, are particularly amenable to fraud; the detailed procedures outlined in the statutes at issue here are designed to protect against fraudulent votes and ensure that absentee ballots actually reflect the will of the voters who cast them. It appears that the Special Tribunal was correct in concluding §§ 23-15-717, 23-15-627, 23-15-715, 23-15-719, and 23-15-635 are mandatory in nature. The strict compliance with statutes concerning absentee ballots, as required by this Court, is lacking in this case. Stringer, 608 So.2d at 1361. Even if these statutes are found directory in nature, the non-complying ballots are not properly counted because of the allegations and proof of fraud. Riley, 441 So.2d at 1328. The violations of these provisions were not mere technical irregularities caused by mistakes of the voters and/or election officials. Instead, these violations are shadowed by allegations and a reasonable inference of fraud; in other words, at least a hint of unseemliness. Wilbourn, 608 So.2d at 1193. Although Holder did not meet his burden of proving fraud by a reasonable certainty, the violations of mandatory provisions of the Absentee Balloting Procedures Law are such a total departure from the fundamental provisions of the statute[s] as to destroy the integrity of the election and make the will of [certain] qualified electors impossible to ascertain. Stringer, 608 So.2d at 1361, quoting Riley, 441 So.2d at 1328. It follows that votes not in compliance with these statutes are illegal. Hatcher, 617 So.2d at 640-41.