Absentee voting will soon look a little different for Mississippians.
With November midterms approaching, state Sen. Jeremy England, R-Vancleave, is working to give the public a heads up on a piece of legislation going into effect on July 1. House Bill 859, which was passed with just one dissenting vote during the most recent session and signed into law by Gov. Tate Reeves, makes 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.
Beginning with the upcoming congressional elections, however, the process has been updated to make things more efficient.
“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 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.”
A lot of the work in putting this legislation together stemmed from a growing distrust in American elections, England asserted.
A recent national survey from the Center for Transparent and Trusted Elections at the University of California San Diego showed that 40% of respondents expressed doubt that votes will be counted accurately nationwide in the 2026 midterms.
Notably, some voters have voiced concerns with mail-in and absentee ballots. In Mississippi, the process of voting by mail or absentee is fairly restrictive. But that has not quashed the notion that a late surge of absentee ballots being flooded into the vote tally on election night could sway an election. England is hopeful the new law will not only do that but also allow citizens to go to bed knowing who the election’s winners are.
“Even if nothing nefarious is going on, there’s that perception of, ‘Well, wait a minute. So-and-so was leading on election night, why are we seeing that change?’ And voters expect results instantaneously,” England explained.
Midterms will take place on Nov. 3, with the absentee voting window in Mississippi beginning on Sept. 21 and ending on Oct. 31. A full list of Mississippi candidates who advanced in March’s primaries and will be on the ballot come November can be found here.
