VOTING INFORMATION
Registration Qualifications
Every U.S. citizen who possesses the following qualifications is eligible to register to vote in Mississippi:
• A resident of Mississippi and the county, city, or town for 30 days prior to the election;
• At least 18 years old (or will be 18 by the date of the next General Election);
• Not declared mentally incompetent by a court; and
• Not convicted of a disenfranchising crime.
Register in Person
1. You may register to vote in person at any of the following locations:
• Circuit Clerk’s Office;
• Municipal Clerk’s Office;
• Department of Public Safety; or
• Any state or federal agency offering government services, such as the Department of Human Services.
2. You must register to vote 30 days before the date of the election. If the 30th day falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, then both the postmark and in-person deadline is extended to the next regular business day.
Register by Mail
1. Complete a Mail-In Voter Registration Application. Provide the information requested, including your driver’s license number and/or the last four digits of your Social Security number. If you do not provide your driver’s license number or the last four digits of your Social Security number, you must send with your application:
• A copy of a current and valid photo ID; or
• A copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows your name and address.
2. Send your Mail-In Voter Registration Application to the Circuit Clerk’s Office located in the county of your residence.
3. Applications must be postmarked 30 days before the date of the election. If the 30th day falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, then both the postmark and in-person deadline is extended to the next regular business day.
4. Mail-In Registration Applications are available at your Circuit Clerk’s Office, Municipal Clerk’s Office, public library, and other participating government offices. Also, Mail-In Registration Applications may be downloaded from our website at www.yallvote.sos.ms.gov.
Voter Registration Deadlines
To vote, you must register either in person at the Circuit Clerk’s or Municipal Clerk’s Office or by mail-in registration application at least 30 days prior to the date of the election. All applications must be postmarked on or before 30 days prior to the date of the election. If the 30th day falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, then both the postmark and in-person deadline is extended to the next regular business day.
Voters who have not yet reached the age of 18 at the time of a primary election may vote in the primary election so long as he/she will reach the age of 18 on before the date of the general election.
Your Rights as a Voter
Every qualified Mississippi elector is entitled to vote regardless of race, creed, color, or disability.
• No one may refuse a person the right to vote if that person is legally entitled to vote.• No voter shall be threatened, intimidated, or paid to vote by any person.
• Voters whose names do not appear on the poll book or who do not have an acceptable form of photo ID are entitled to vote by affidavit ballot.
• Voters who cast an affidavit ballot are entitled to receive written information at the time of voting on how to determine if the vote was counted and, if not, why not.
• Voters who require assistance in marking the ballot because of disability, blindness, or an inability to read or write are entitled to receive assistance from a person of the voter’s choice, excluding, a candidate whose name is on the ballot, or the spouse, parent, sibling or child of a candidate whose name is on the ballot, or by a poll watcher who is observing in the polling place on Election Day, or the voter’s employer or agent of that employer, or officer or agent of the voter’s union; unless, however, a candidate for office or the spouse, parent or child of a candidate is related within the first degree to the voter requesting assistance.
Where to Vote
After registering to vote, your Voter Registration Card will be sent to your residence/mailing address provided on your application. Your Voter Registration Card will provide the name, location, and number of the precinct in which you will vote. You may contact the Circuit Clerk’s Office at 601-736-8246 for more information. Polls are open each Election Day from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.
Find you polling location online by clicking here.
Absentee Ballot
Some registered voters are eligible to vote by an absentee ballot because of age, health, work demands, temporary relocation for educational purposes, or their affiliation with the U.S. Armed Forces. Please check with your Circuit or Municipal Clerk to determine if you are entitled to vote by an absentee ballot and to learn the procedures for doing so.
If you know you will vote by an absentee ballot, you may contact the Circuit or Municipal Clerk’s Office at any time within 45 days of the election.
Voters included within the Uniform and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), such as members of the military and overseas citizens, may register to vote and request an absentee ballot by Federal Post Card Application (FPCA). UOCAVA voters may register to vote using the FPCA up until ten days before the date of an election and may receive and return an absentee ballot by mail, email, or fax. For more information, call the Secretary of State’s Election Hotline at 1 (800) 829-6786 or visit their website at www.yallvote.sos.ms.gov
Voter ID
All Mississippi voters casting a ballot in person at the polls or casting an absentee ballot in the Circuit or Municipal Clerk’s Office must present one of the following forms of acceptable photo ID:
• A driver’s license;
• A government issued photo ID card;
• A United States passport;
• A government employee photo identification card;
• A firearms license;
• A student photo ID issued by an accredited Mississippi university, college, or community/junior college;
• A United States military photo ID;
• A tribal photo ID;
• Any other photo ID issued by any branch, department, agency or entity of the United States government or any State government; or
• A Mississippi Voter Identification Card
If you do not present an acceptable form of photo ID or are unable to do so because of a religious objection, you are entitled to cast an affidavit ballot. A voter casting an affidavit ballot because he/she did not present an acceptable form of photo ID based upon a religious objection may not have his/her ballot rejected for this reason if he/she completes an Affidavit of Religious Objection in the Circuit or Municipal Clerk’s Office within five business days after Election Day.
A voter casting an affidavit ballot because he/she did not present an acceptable form of photo ID may not have his/her ballot rejected for this reason if he/she presents an acceptable form of photo ID in the Circuit or Municipal Clerk’s Office within five business days after Election Day.
Banner photos by Will Jordan
