Absentee voting has begun in Mississippi ahead of the upcoming November midterms, but the way ballots are cast early has changed.
This past legislative session, state lawmakers passed House Bill 859, a measure that made a significant change to the way absentee ballots are both cast and counted this year.
Previously, when citizens would vote absentee, they would have to fill out a ballot at their respective circuit clerk’s office, then put it in an envelope that would not be counted until after the polls closed. This often led to lengthy wait times in receiving results, particularly in rural areas of the state, and prompted delays in races being called.
That process has been altered to make operations run more smoothly and efficiently this election season. State Sen. Jeremy England, R-Vancleave, said ballots will be filled out when one votes absentee, then scanned through the voting machine at the voter’s local circuit clerk’s office and counted on election day.
“We got rid of the envelope this year. So, now you’re going to go in, you’re going to have a ballot printed for you that’s your ballot, and you’re going to cast that into an election machine,” England, who chairs the Senate Elections Committee, said. “What that means is at 7 p.m. on Election Day, those votes are going to be tallied just like everybody else’s. That’s going to make that system work a lot better and a lot quicker.”
Absentee voting runs until Oct. 31. The midterms will take place on Nov. 3. A full list of Mississippi candidates who advanced in March’s primaries and will be on the ballot come November can be found here.