Voting In Mississippi

To be eligible to vote in Mississippi you must be:

• Considered mentally competent
• A U.S. citizen
• At least 18 years old on Election Day
• A resident of the state and have lived in your city or town for at least 30 days prior to Election Day
• Registered to vote at least 30 days prior to Election Day
• Never convicted of murder, rape, bribery, burglary, theft, arson, obtaining money or goods under false pretenses, perjury, forgery, embezzlement, or bigamy (unless you have received pardons or had your rights of citizenship restored)

You will need to provide your driver's license number or the last 4 digits of your Social Security number on your voter registration form. If you do not have a driver's license number or Social Security number and you are registering by mail for the first time, you must include one of the following with your application:

• A copy of current valid photo identification
• A copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document showing your name and address

Once you are registered, you generally remain registered indefinitely, unless you move or no longer meet one of the qualifications to vote.

If you do not provide proper identification when you register to vote, you may be required to show one of the following identification documents to the election officials at the polling place on Election Day:

• A copy of current valid photo identification
• A copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows your name and address

Mail in registration applications must be postmarked 30 days prior to the election.

In person registration at the county clerk's office must be done at least 30 days prior to the election in which you want to vote. In most cases, circuit clerks and municipal clerks are available to register voters between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm.

To verify your registration status, contact your voter registrars' office.

The earliest day to vote absentee by mail or in person at the circuit clerk's office for the primary election is June 23, 2007. Mailed absentee ballots must be received by 5:00 pm on August 6, 2007. The deadline to vote by absentee ballot in the circuit clerk's office is 12:00 pm on August 4, 2007.

The earliest day to vote by absentee by mail or in person at the local circuit clerk's office for the general election is December 2, 2007. The deadline to vote by absentee ballot in the circuit clerk's office for the general election is 12:00pm on February 10, 2008.

You are eligible to vote absentee if you are a duly qualified and registered elector who will be absent from your county of residence on Election Day or are:

• A disabled war veteran who is a patient in any hospital and a citizen of Mississippi
• A citizen of Mississippi temporarily residing outside the territorial limits of the United States and the District of Columbia
• An employee engaged in interstate transportation
• A student, teacher or administrator
• An employee engaged in offshore employment, or as an employee on a vessel or other watercraft
• An employee, businessperson, professional, tradesman or worker required to be over 50 miles away from the county of residence on election day due to employment
• A person with a temporary or permanent physical disability
• 65 years of age or older
• A parent, spouse or dependent of a person with a temporary or permanent disability hospitalized more than 50 miles from home county and with such person Election Day
• A member of a congressional delegation

Please check with your voter registrar to determine if you are entitled to vote absentee and to learn the procedures for doing so.

U.S. military personnel and overseas citizens can find information on how to register to vote and request an absentee ballot at the Overseas Vote Foundation.

Early voting does not exist in Mississippi. However, you may vote absentee ballot in person at your local circuit clerk's office.

The next election will be held on Tuesday, May 5, 2009. Check your state's resource for local election dates and information.

In order to be a poll worker in Mississippi:

• You must be registered to vote in Mississippi
• You will be entitled to compensation
• You must be at least 18 years of age
• You must be a resident of the county
• You must complete required training
• Students 16 or older who are enrolled in high school and have residency in the county or municipality may work with a recommendation from the principal

To sign up, contact your local board of elections.

Polls will be open from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm.

Time off to vote is subject to the employer. Mississippi law does not require employers to grant time off to vote for employees.

You can find your polling place by utilizing VOTE411's poll locator tool. Some states and local jurisdictions provide their own poll locators. You can confirm your voting location by selecting from the following local resources: Mississippi State Polling Place Locator Tool

If you have further questions on your polling place location, please contact your county clerk.

Provisional ballots are eligible for verification if cast in the correct precinct.

The voting systems used in Mississippi are DRE and paper ballots.

Direct Recording Electronic (DRE): This is the newest kind of system in use in the U.S. All the information about who and what you are voting for is on an electronic screen like a TV or computer screen.

There are many variations of DREs because lots of companies are inventing new ones, and many cities, counties and states are trying them out. Usually, after you have signed in, the poll workers will give you a card that you slide into a device to start your voting session.

Some of these devices will show all of the candidates and ballot choices on one big screen. Often, with these big screen devices you push a button next to the name of the candidate you want to vote for (or yes or no on a ballot measure). On other DREs, the screen is set up to show “pages.” On each screen or page, there will probably be one thing to vote on. For example, on one screen or page, you might vote for president. Then you might move to the next page to vote for senator. Often these small-screen devices have a “touch screen,” where you touch the screen next to the name of the person you want to vote for. Other devices have a key pad. And some have a keyboard, so you can write in the name of someone you want to vote for.

You let the system know you are finished voting by pushing a button, touching the screen or entering something on a keypad.

Paper Ballots: Paper ballots are one of the oldest ways of voting in America. They are still used in a few places on Election Day. When you come to the polling place, you will get a paper ballot from the poll worker. You take it to the voting booth, and use a pen or pencil to mark a box next to your candidate and issue choices. You then drop the marked ballot into a sealed ballot box.

Information on local, state and federal candidates and ballot measures is available here.

If you are permanently disabled, you can register to be on the voter disabled list and will automatically be sent a ballot. To register as a disabled citizen, you must get a signed statement from your physician stating you are permanently disabled. The new voting machines provide accessible voting for many disabled. If necessary, you can choose a person to assist you with your voting.

For information on federal campaign contributions, please visit Open Secrets.For information on state campaign contributions, please visit your state's resource.