Mississippi Code
Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-601 (2026)
Canvass of returns and declaration of results by election commissioners; determination of tie vote
✓ current as of July 2026
- (1) When the result of the election shall have been ascertained by the poll managers they, or one (1) of their number, or some fit person designated by them, shall, on the night of the election, deliver to the election commissioners, at the courthouse, a statement of the whole number of votes given for each person and for what office; and the election commissioners shall canvass the returns, ascertain and declare the result, and, within ten (10) days after the day of the election, shall deliver a certificate of the election to the person having the greatest number of votes for representative in the Legislature of districts composed of one (1) county or less, or other county office, board of supervisors, justice court judge and constable. If it appears that two (2) or more candidates for Representative of the county, or part of the county, or for any county office, board of supervisors, justice court judge or constable standing highest on the list, and not elected, have an equal number of votes, the interested candidates shall appear before the election commissioners within two (2) days after the canvass and the tie shall be determined by a toss of a coin or by lot fairly and publicly drawn, and a certificate of election shall be given accordingly. The foregoing provisions shall apply to Senators, if the county be a senatorial district.
- (2) The election commissioners shall transmit to the Secretary of State, on such forms and by such methods as may be required by rules and regulations promulgated by the Secretary of State, a statement of the total number of votes cast in the county for each candidate for each office and the total number of votes cast for such candidates in each precinct in the district in which the candidate ran.
Derived from 1972 Code § 23-5-169 [Codes, Hutchinson's 1848, ch. 7, art 5 (9); 1857, ch. 4, art 13; 1871, § 377; 1880, § 138; 1892, § 3671; 1906, § 4178; Hemingway's 1917, § 6812; 1930, § 6250; 1942, § 3279; Laws, 1970, ch. 506, § 27; repealed by Laws, 1986, ch. 495, § 335]; Laws, 1986, ch. 495, § 192; Laws, 2002, ch. 534, § 3, eff. 7/29/2002 (the date the United States Attorney General interposed no objection under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965).
Amended by Laws, 2017, ch. 441, HB 467, 124, eff. 7/1/2017.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6
cases, 1991–2008 · leading case: Pegram v. Bailey, 708 So. 2d 1307 (Miss. 1997).
Pegram v. Bailey, 708 So. 2d 1307 (Miss. 1997). “Pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-601 (1972), the DEC drew lots and Pegram was selected by lot as the winner of said election.”
Misso v. Oliver, 666 So. 2d 1366 (Miss. 1996). “Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-601 (1991). Canvas of returns and declaration of results by commissioners of election; determination of tie vote.”
In Re Wilbourn, 590 So. 2d 1381 (Miss. 1991). “After the election, the Hinds County Election Commission met to canvass the results, including this Supervisor's election, pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-601 (1972). The initial vote count by the Commission indicated that Peggy Hobson received 5,358 votes and Hershel…”
William Pegram v. Wayne Bailey (Miss. 1995). “Pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-601 (1972), the DEC drew lots and Pegram was selected by lot as the winner of said election.”
Pegram v. Bailey, 694 So. 2d 664 (Miss. 1997). “Pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 23-15-601 (1972), the DEC drew lots and Pegram was selected by lot as the winner of said election.”
In re Election for House of Representatives Dist. 71, 987 So. 2d 917 (Miss. 2008). “]” Miss.Code Ann. § 23-15-601 (Rev.2007). They are also required to deliver the returns of each election to the Secretary of State.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.