2024 MISSISSIPPI VOTER GUIDE
1.Voter Registration
Deadline to Register/Update: October 7, 2024
2. Check Your Registration
Why check your registration? Your address is where election officials send notices, application forms to receive your ballot in the mail, and more. Additionally, poll workers will check if the address on your voter registration matches the address on your ID at the polls.
Check/Update Your Registration Online
Checklist:
- Is your name spelled correctly? (Correct hyphenations, middle initials, etc)
- Correct Address
- Active Voter Status (if not update by sending in another online/mail voter application)
- Correct Date of Birth
- Correct Political Party Preference
- Take a time-stamped photograph or screenshot of your registration, and take it with you to the polls as proof of your registration.
3. Voter ID Law
Source: Ballotpedia
Mississippi requires voters to present photo identification while voting.
As of July 1, 2024, identification used to vote in Mississippi must be an official government document that “has no expiration date or has an issuance date not more than ten (10) years prior to the date” of voting.”
Any one of the following types of photo IDs may be used on Election Day:
- A driver’s license (including a Digital ID provided by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety)
- A photo ID card issued by a branch, department, or entity of the State of Mississippi
- A United States passport
- A government employee ID card
- A firearms license
- A student photo ID issued by an accredited Mississippi university, college, or community/junior college
- A United States military 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
- A Mississippi Voter Identification Card
Voters can obtain a Mississippi Voter Identification Card for free at any circuit clerk’s office in Mississippi. Voters can apply for a card during normal business hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.). Voters who need transportation to a circuit clerk’s office can call the secretary of state’s voter ID toll-free hotline at 1-844-678-6837, visit www.MSVoterID.ms.gov, or email MSVoterID@sos.ms.gov to schedule a ride. Transportation is free of charge.
4. Order Your Absentee Mail Ballot
Deadline to apply for Absentee Mail Ballot: November 4, 2024
We recommend requesting your absentee mail ballot as soon as possible and well in advance of this deadline in order to ensure that you receive your ballot in time.
- Contact your Circuit Clerk’s Office to see if you are entitled to vote by mail-in absentee ballot. A list of office contact information is available here: https://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/goVoteMissouri/localelectionauthority
- If you qualify to vote by mail-in absentee, request an Official Application for Absentee Elector’s Ballot be mailed to you.
- The Circuit Clerk will mail the Official Application for Absentee Elector’s Ballot by mail. The application will ask you to check what absentee excuse you are applying for.
- Once you receive your application, fill it out and mail it back to your Circuit Clerk’s Office.
- The bottom part of the application is designated for the witness. All absentee ballot applications have to be signed by an official authorized to administer oath, such as a notary public, unless the voter is temporary or permanently physically disabled. Temporary or permanently physically disabled voters may have the application witnessed by a person who is at least 18 years of age.
- Upon receipt of your application, your Circuit Clerk will mail you your official absentee ballot within one (1) business day, or a soon as the ballots are ready. The ballot will come with specific instructions on how to vote by mail-in absentee.
- The Application and Ballot may be mailed together depending how close the election date is to when the ballot is requested.
Deadline to return Absentee Mail Ballot: Must be received by 8:00 PM on November 5, 2024
5. Early Voting Information
Mississippi does not currently permit early voting or no-excuse absentee voting.
- In-person absentee voting is available from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, beginning September 23, 2024, at the County Circuit Clerk’s office, through November 2, 2024. In addition, the County Circuit Clerk’s Office will be open for in -person absentee voting from 8:00 a.m. to noon on October 26, 2024, and November 2, 2024. The deadline to vote in -person absentee will be November 2, 2024.
- To access your county elections information visit:https://www.sos.ms.gov/Elections-Voting/Pages/County-Election-Info.aspx click on your county on the map to be redirected to your county’s specific page.
For more information regarding federal, state and local elections contact your state election official online: https://www.sos.ms.gov or contact the Mississippi Secretary of State’s elections division by phone 601.359.9372.
6. Become a Poll Worker!
Poll workers must be 16 years old or over, and a registered voter (if over 18) in their county.
Contact your County Election Office to Sign Up: https://www.sos.ms.gov/elections-voting/pages/county-election-info.aspx