While this year’s legislative session is full steam ahead and our office continues to promote the implementation of new security measures for Mississippi elections, it’s important to pause and provide an update on the status of safeguards employed from previous sessions.

Through House Bill 1310 (passed during the 2023 Legislative Session), our office and county election commissioners were provided with definitions for functions and processes we may utilize to conduct voter roll maintenance (VRM) beginning January 1, 2024. Having completed a full year of application, I’m excited to report on these efforts.

Working with the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, we launched a pilot program in Lafayette County using information from Experian®, which utilizes information from the USPS and commercially available data, to identify voters who have moved from their place of registration. Prior to H.B. 1310, our office solely relied on post office and/or other government data for conducting VRM. Under the new law, counties may use any reliable information available to determine if a voter has moved within or outside of the state.

Accessing commercial data, like Experian’s, is the first of its kind in Mississippi. With the success of the pilot program, we are excited to announce we have just signed a contract to institute this new resource in all 82 counties.

In an effort to further expand resources without added cost, our team reached out to neighboring states to sign memorandums of understanding (MOU) for data exchanges. Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, and, most recently, Kentucky have all signed MOUs while the data exchange with Alabama has already taken place.

In reviewing the data from Alabama, over 8,000 names were found to be registered in both Alabama and Mississippi. While this act itself is not illegal, it would be illegal for one person to cast a ballot in both states. In short, there was the potential for 8,000 illegal votes to be cast. We were able to communicate this information to local county officials to take action. Because many of Mississippi’s local races require plurality, just one vote may change an election.

Finally, I want to thank each of you for supporting our office’s efforts to continue securing Mississippi elections. Through your emails, calls, text messages, etc., we are able to voice your concerns when communicating with our state legislature. As a reminder, I encourage you to continue holding elected officials accountable even after the passage of meaningful legislation. Should you have further questions about our efforts, please reach our office at secretary@sos.ms.gov.

MICHAEL WATSON
Secretary of State
State of Mississippi