A look at a patchwork elections system that is prone to errors
Mississippi election officials can no longer change polling places within 60 days of an election, except under special circumstances, under a new law that took effect on July 1.
House Bill 1419, written by Mississippi House Rep. Zakiya Summers, says that the “location of a polling place shall not be altered within sixty (60) days of any primary, general, runoff or special election unless 24 exigent circumstances exist.” If officials determine that “exigent circumstances exist,” the law requires them to post notifications in public buildings and run them in local newspapers.
“I’m a former election commissioner, too,” Summers, a Democrat from Jackson, told the Mississippi Free Press on June 24. “We’ve seen in years past where there have been very last-minute changes to precincts for various circumstances, and that also leads to voter suppression.”
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She served as Hinds County’s District 3 election commissioner from 2016 until she joined the Mississippi House in 2020.
“If there are extraordinary circumstances, whether it be a tornado hit the building or whatever, it can be moved and (local officials) have to provide notice of that movement in the newspaper and post notice at the location so as not to confuse voters,” Mississippi House Rep. Noah Sanford, a Republican from Collins, said as introduced the bill on the House floor on Feb. 5. “But otherwise, locations need to be moved more than 60 days before an election in order to give voters enough time to be aware of those movements so they can go to the right place.”
Under state law, the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office oversees election administration and provides training, but local election officials determine precinct locations and carry out the processes.
Since 2020, the Mississippi Free Press has reported on hundreds of precinct closures and changes, including some that happened mere weeks before an election or left voters confused about where to go on Election Day. In 2023, the Mississippi Free Press reported on how Hinds County officials moved two Jackson polling places just hours before voters headed to the polls for that year’s party primaries after realizing that they were not accessible for disabled voters, likely in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Months later, in February 2024, Summers introduced her first attempt at passing legislation to prevent last-minute polling place changes.
The bill earned approval in the House that year, but it died in the Senate in April 2024. Later that year, the Mississippi Free Press reported, in partnership with the Pulitzer Center’s U.S. StoryReach Fellowship, on 54 polling places that local election officials had changed ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
When asked about the 2023 Hinds County polling place changes in an interview with the Mississippi Free Press in October 2024, Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson said that it’s “a big deal” for county supervisors to ensure that polling places are ADA compliant and ready for voters before Election Day.
“I think it’s incumbent on them to be sure they’re checking things out. It shouldn’t be found the day before—that should’ve been done earlier,” he said.
This year, Summers reintroduced her bill, and it passed both chambers with no opposition.
Summers told the Mississippi Free Press that she strengthened the legislation for the 2025 session by working with the Mississippi House and Senate Elections Committee chairmen as well as the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office.
Gov. Tate Reeves signed H.B. 1419 into law on March 12.
