Voting in the Second Primary on Tuesday April 22, 2025 is crucial.
I investigated how to vote if unable to participate in person on Election Day.
Voicemail messages were left for the Election Commissioners at the numbers listed — (601) 960-6615 and (601) 960-4359 — in the “Voter and Election Info” section of the Municipal Clerk Department of the City of Jackson, Mississippi website — https://search.app/22FYZNc9bF3Yf7gV7 — but no return call was received before this article had to be submitted for publication, this week.
The Election Commissioners listed on the website are:
Ward 1 Election Commissioner- Vacant. Ward 2 Election Commissioner- Willie Cooper. Ward 3 Election Commissioner- Sandra Griffin McCall. Ward 4 Election Commissioner- Linda Sanders. Ward 5 Election Commissioner- Frances Hampton. Ward 6 Election Commissioner- Florine Keeler. Ward 7 Election Commissioner- Anthony Vernaci
Why telephones are not answered nor calls promptly returned during the days prior to an election deserves investigation subsequent to the Second Primary.
What can be determined on the website above is that,
“You are eligible to vote absentee if you are a qualified and registered voter who will be absent from your county of residence on Election Day, or are:
A disabled war veteran who is a patient in any hospital and a citizen of Mississippi
A citizen of Mississippi temporarily residing outside the territorial limits of the United States and the District of Columbia
An employee engaged in interstate transportation
A student, teacher, or administrator
An employee engaged in offshore employment, or as an employee on a vessel or other watercraft
An employee, businessperson, professional, tradesman, or worker required to be over 50 miles away from the county of residence on election day due to employment
A person with a temporary or permanent physical disability 65 years of age or older
A parent, spouse, or dependent of a person with a temporary or permanent disability hospitalized more than 50 miles from the home county and with such person Election Day
Those within these categories can vote absentee in the Municipal Clerk’s Office. How to secure an Absentee Ballot if outside the city between the First Primary and the Second Primary is ambiguous:
“An Official Application must be completed, notarized, and submitted to the Municipal Clerks [sic] Office to receive the ballot and no later than instructions five (5) days before the election. Once the Ballot is received and completed before an ‘attesting witness,’ it must be submitted and reach the registrar of your precinct no later than 5:00 pm on the day preceding the date of the election. You may return it through the mail or in-person but must be postmarked before Election Day, notarized, and sealed according to the instructions on the envelope.
“When the application accompanies the ballot, it shall not be returned in the same envelope as a ballot but shall be returned in a separate pre-addressed envelope provided by the registrar. Any voter casting an absentee ballot who declares that he/she requires assistance for reasons of disability or temporary disability which includes reading or writing, shall be entitled to receive assistance by someone other than a candidate on the ballot in marking the ballot and affidavit.”
No Official Application is available online mandating (apparently: There is ambiguity — certainly lack of clarity) that one receive an official application, return a notarized application, receive a ballot, and return the ballot — tight, with three weeks between the First Primary and the Second Primary since ballots cannot be printed until the preceding primary results are certified.
These issues appear ripe for review to encourage optimal voter participation.
Affidavits and ballots should be available on the Municipal Clerk’s website, to expedite processes.
Hopefully these details aid voters, notwithstanding imprecision because the Municipal Clerk’s website confuses and Election Commissioners are unavailable immediately before Election Day.
Jay Wiener is a Northsider
