Mississippi Code

Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-635 (2026)

Form of elector's certificate, attesting witness certification, and voter assistance certificate where voter is not absent voter as defined in the Armed Forces Absentee Voting Law

✓ current as of July 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section JustiaMiss. Code CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

(1) The form of the elector's certificate, attesting witness certification and certificate of the person providing voter assistance on the back of the envelope used by absentee voters who receive their ballot by mail and who are not absent voters as defined in Section 23-15-673, shall be as follows:
"ELECTOR'S CERTIFICATE
STATE OF __________
COUNTY OF __________
I, __________, under penalty of perjury do solemnly swear that this envelope contains the ballot marked by me indicating my choice of the candidates or propositions to be submitted at the election to be held on the ___ day of __________, 2____, and I hereby authorize the registrar to place this envelope in the ballot box on my behalf, and I further authorize the resolution board to open this envelope and place my ballot among the other ballots cast before such ballots are counted, and record my name on the poll list as if I were present in person and voted.
I further swear that I marked the enclosed ballot in secret.
Penalties for vote fraud are up to five (5) years in prison and a fine of up to Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00). (Miss. Code. Ann. Section 23-15-753.) Penalties for voter intimidation are up to one (1) year in jail and a fine of up to One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00). (Miss. Code. Ann. Section 97-13-37.)
____________________
(Signature of voter)
CERTIFICATE OF ATTESTING WITNESS
Under penalty of perjury I affirm that the above named voter personally appeared before me, on this the ___ day of __________, 2____, and is known by me to be the person named, and who, after being duly sworn or having affirmed, subscribed the foregoing oath or affirmation. That the voter exhibited to me his or her blank ballot; that the ballot was not marked or voted before the voter exhibited the ballot to me; that the voter was not solicited or advised by me to vote for any candidate, question or issue, and that the voter, after marking his or her ballot, placed it in the envelope, closed and sealed the envelope in my presence, and signed and swore or affirmed the above certificate.
_________________________ _________________________
(Attesting witness) (Address)
_________________________ _________________________
(Official title) (City and State)
CERTIFICATE OF PERSON PROVIDING VOTER ASSISTANCE
(To be completed only if the voter has received assistance in marking the enclosed ballot.) I, under penalty of perjury, hereby certify that the above-named voter declared to me that he or she is blind, temporarily or permanently physically disabled, or cannot read or write, and that the voter requested that I assist the voter in marking the enclosed absentee ballot. I hereby certify that the ballot preferences on the enclosed ballot are those communicated by the voter to me, and that I have marked the enclosed ballot in accordance with the voter's instructions.
Penalties for vote fraud are up to five (5) years in prison and a fine of up to Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00). (Miss. Code. Ann. Section 23-15-753.) Penalties for voter intimidation are up to one (1) year in jail and a fine of up to One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00). (Miss. Code. Ann. Section 97-13-37.)
___________________________________________
Signature of person providing assistance
___________________________________________
Printed name of person providing assistance
___________________________________________
Address of person providing assistance
___________________________________________
Date and time assistance provided
___________________________________________
Family relationship to voter (if any)"

(2) The envelope shall have printed on the flap on the back of the envelope in bold print and in a distinguishing color, the following: "YOUR VOTE WILL BE REJECTED AND NOT COUNTED IF THIS ENVELOPE IS NOT SIGNED BY YOU AND AN ATTESTING WITNESS IN THE BOXES ACROSS THE FLAP OF THIS ENVELOPE ."
A portion of the elector's signature extending outside of the box shall not be grounds for rejecting that elector's ballot.

Derived from 1972 Code § 23-9-19 [(Codes, 1942, § 3196-10; Laws, 1942, ch. 202; Laws, 1954, ch. 359, § 10), repealed by Laws, 1972, ch. 490, § 604] and § 23-9-413 [(Codes, § 3203-403; Laws, 1972, ch. 490, § 403) repealed by Laws, 1986, ch. 495, § 341]; Laws, 1986, ch. 495, § 205; Laws, 1999, ch. 420, § 4; Laws, 2008, ch. 528, § 11; Laws, 2010, ch. 446, § 9, eff. 7/9/2010 (the date the United States Attorney General interposed no objection under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965).

Amended by Laws, 2024, ch. 536, HB 1406,§ 3, eff. 7/1/2024.

Amended by Laws, 2020, ch. 472, HB 1521,§ 12, eff. 7/8/2020.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 10 cases, 1993–2005 · leading case: Smith v. Hollins, 905 So. 2d 1267 (Miss. 2005).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Smith v. Hollins, 905 So. 2d 1267 (Miss. 2005). · cites it 2× “See Miss.Code Ann. § 23-15-635 (Rev.2001); see also Campbell, 733 So.”

McFarland v. State, 707 So. 2d 166 (Miss. 1998). “A person voting by absentee ballot must sign the affidavit on the ballot envelope as provided in Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-635 (1972), which affidavit requires the signature of the voter.”

Boyd v. Tishomingo Cty. Democratic Exec. Comm., 912 So. 2d 124 (Miss. 2005). “" See Miss.Code Ann. § 23-15-635 (Rev.2001). We will only consider the votes attested twice by Sherry Buckles because Boyd failed to preserve any record of the other votes he alleges should be invalidated.”

Rogers v. Holder, 636 So. 2d 645 (Miss. 1994). “Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-635 (1972). Again, the Special Tribunal's findings of fact support the conclusion that this statute was violated by two (2) voters, whose ballots were also in violation of one or more of the previously mentioned statutes.”

Campbell v. Whittington, 733 So. 2d 820 (Miss. 1999). · cites it 2× “The tribunal found that these irregularities were sufficient to call into question the integrity of 20 of the absentee ballots.”

Straughter v. Collins, 819 So. 2d 1244 (Miss. 2002). “Further: Under Miss.Code Ann. § 23-15-635 (Rev.1990), the absent voter must vote his ballot in the presence of an attesting witness, place the ballot in the envelope, and sign the elector's certificate across the flap.”

Virdo Campbell v. Jackie Whittington (Miss. 1995). · cites it 2× “The tribunal found that these irregularities were sufficient to call into question the integrity of 20 of the absentee ballots.”

Jerry Boyd v. Glenn Whitlock (Miss. 2003). “” See Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-635 (Rev. 2001). We will only consider the votes attested twice by Sherry Buckles because Boyd failed to preserve any record of the other votes he alleges should be invalidated.”

Calvin McFarland v. State of Mississippi (Miss. 1993). “A person voting by absentee ballot must sign the affidavit on the ballot envelope as provided in Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-635 (1972), which affidavit requires the signature of the voter.”

McArthur Straughter v. Cobie Collins (Miss. 2000). “Further: Under Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-635 (Rev. 1990), the absent voter must vote his ballot in the presence of an attesting witness, place the ballot in the envelope, and sign the elector's certificate across the flap.”

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.