Opinion ID: 1608961
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: whether the hickory town clerk's hand-delivery of three absentee ballots to her able-bodied relatives in their home after the town hall was closed for the weekend, and her subsequent return of those ballots to town hall after the deadline for receiving absentee ballots from voters who appear in person, violates public policy and standards of fairness and creates a special class of voters, thus voiding those three ballots for purposes of the hickory municipal election held june 8, 1993?

Text: As Appellant's first two assignments of error question the validity of three absentee ballots executed by the clerk and concern the same statutory scheme, the following analysis is dispositive of the first two issues raised. [5] This Court requires strict compliance with the statutes concerning absentee ballots. Stringer v. Lucas, 608 So.2d 1351, 1361 (Miss. 1992). The statutes at issue in the present case can be summarized as follows. Under Mississippi's election statutes, a voter can obtain an absentee ballot in one of two ways: by appearing in person before the county registrar, or requesting a ballot by mail and mailing it back. See Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-715(b) (Supp. 1992). An elector applying for an absentee ballot shall fill in the application form as provided in § 23-15-627. See Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-717 (Supp. 1992). Section 23-15-627 provides for 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. Finally, Miss. Code Ann. XX-XX-XXX (1972) requires that an elector shall appear in person before the City Clerk of the Municipality in which he resides and shall execute and file an application as provided in § 23-15-627. If an elector is unable to appear personally for the specific reasons set forth in the statute (disability, temporarily residing outside 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. Miss. Code Ann. § 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 in the back of the envelope which states this envelope contains the ballot marked by me. Section 23-15-635 of the Miss. Code Ann. (1972) provides the form for the certificate of attesting witnesses to be used in conjunction with absentee ballots when the county registrar is not an attesting witness to the vote. Section 23-15-631 of the Miss. Code Ann. (a) discusses the procedure whereby the county registrar serves as the attesting witness and states in part [a]ll absentee voters ... who mark their ballots in the county of the residence shall use the registrar of that county as the witness. Viewing the statutory scheme, it is evident that these sections requiring that a voter request an absentee ballot, actually vote his own ballot, and place and seal the ballot in the provided envelope are intended to ensure the integrity of absentee ballots. In the present case the actions of the clerk in personally delivering three absentee ballots to three of her relatives are called into question. While this Court cannot point to specific acts of fraud or specific wrongdoing, we can point to this unusual service by the clerk for her son and daughter-in-law and granddaughter. This service is questionable as it does not adhere to the specific language of the applicable statute. We also can point to the fact that this unusual service granted to the clerk's relatives created a situation whereby the ballots were actually delivered and marked outside of the clerk's office, which if approved, would in this case and in future election cases leave the possibility of fraud, deception and misuse of the clerk's position of public trust. Fraud, deception, and misuse are absent in this case but so is strict adherence to the applicable statute. The record before this Court and the factual occurrences undermine confidence in the election and call into question the ballots here counted and the results of the election. The actions of the clerk and the resulting ballots that determined the outcome of this election certainly do not guarantee or insure integrity of absentee ballots, and these actions do not follow the specifics of the law. A faithful following of the statute would inspire integrity. The services rendered to the clerk's family members insofar as the record reflects, were not available to other members of the public and were available to the voters here affected only because of their family relationship with the clerk. Because the services rendered are outside of statutory permission, this Court cannot approve these actions. The actions of the clerk were irregular and not in accordance with any statute. We do acknowledge the judicially created exception set forth in Riley v. Clayton, 441 So.2d 1322, 1328 (Miss. 1983). Therein, we held that absent allegations of fraud and/or misconduct, absentee ballots could be delivered by the clerk outside the Town Hall in order for physically incapacitated individuals to execute them. However, this holding should not be carried further than the specific facts of the Riley case as it was a judicial allowance or deviation from the statute. This may well have been bad law made for a good purpose. Notwithstanding this Court's holding in Riley v. Clayton , we find that the clerk's actions in the present case were improper. Other than declarations by the clerk, there is not a record of the occurrences involved in these ballots and certainly there is not a record that complies with the statute of how these ballots were delivered, executed and recorded. The statute creates specific and necessary requirements that must be followed, in order for absentee ballots to count. We do further hold that a clerk in performing statutory duties must perform those duties in strict compliance with the statutes. The facts of this case underscore this requirement, especially when dealing with the clerk's own family and in circumstances private to the clerk and her kin. Given the facts, the need for strict adherence to the law is readily apparent. The record reflects that certain requirements were indeed complied with by the clerk. However, problems arise in the fact that the clerk delivered the three ballots to her relatives after normal business hours and that the ballots were executed outside the Town Hall. Again, it is permissible for absentee ballots to be executed in one of two ways: (1) by appearing in person before the clerk and executing an application and ballot, or (2) by requesting that an application and ballot be sent by mail. These requirements have not been met in the present case. These statutory provisions must be followed and nothing within them permits a clerk to personally deliver and execute absentees to able-bodied persons outside the Town Hall. In determining which votes are illegal or invalid, the general rule is that a violation of voting procedures which amounts to such a total departure from the fundamental provisions of the statute as to destroy the integrity of the election and make the will of the qualified voters impossible to ascertain renders the tainted votes void. Riley v. Clayton, 441 So.2d 1322, 1328 (Miss. 1983). Certainly, there was a complete and total departure from statutory procedures that destroyed ballot and election integrity. We simply point out the time and manner in which the three ballots were executed and note that there was not strict compliance with the statute pertaining to absentee ballots. Moreover, in analyzing whether or not these election code provisions are deemed mandatory or directory, we find that the language contained in Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-715 which sets forth the manner for applying and executing absentee ballots is mandatory. The statute must be followed to protect the use, distribution and tallying of absentee ballots. 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, 441 So.2d 1322, 1326 (Miss. 1983). The acts of the clerk in handling the ballots in the present case does nothing to strengthen the integrity of the election or to cause an elector to repose confidence in the election outcome. 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, 640-641 (Miss. 1993). The legislature in setting the strict requirements of Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-715 intended to protect the absentee ballots from abuse and misuse. When the statute is followed, ballot integrity is more likely to occur. In conclusion, we find that the actions taken on the part of the Town Clerk were not in compliance with the statutes. The trial court ruled in part that a clerk is a clerk, regardless of where she is at and that when she leaves City Hall, she does not shed herself of the cloak of responsibility. With this, we cannot completely agree. A clerk does indeed take the oath of responsibility; however, a clerk must always serve and perform within the confines of statutory law. Because the clerk in the present case performed her duties, in part, while the Town Hall was officially closed and because other similarly situated voters could have been denied the opportunity to vote an absentee ballot in a similar fashion and because the acts of the clerk do not lend strength to the integrity of the ballot nor cause an elector to have confidence in the outcome of the election and because the clerk had no statutory authority to perform in the way that she did, we cannot state that such action was permitted by law. Again, a voter can obtain an absentee ballot in one of two ways: first, by appearing in person before the county registrar (in this instance the town registrar) or second, requesting a ballot by mail and mailing it back. Insofar as we differ in this case with Riley v. Clayton , suffice it to say that the decision in Riley was an aberration of the application of the statute for a good purpose, but it is not persuasive as precedent. Therefore, wherein Riley deviates from the statute it is overruled. Based on the foregoing, we reverse and render on this issue, such that the three subject ballots are not to be counted in certifying the election results of June 8, 1993. Further discussion of the summary judgment issue follows.