Parts of ‘excused’ voting program that pandered to national GOP position on mail-in absentee voting dies with new voting program

• The Mississippi Legislature adjourned without passing a bill that would have created a 22-day excused early voting program.
• Senate Elections Chairman Jeremy England plans to continue working on the legislation.
• Gov. Tate Reeves expressed opposition to the bill, stating his support for same-day voting.
• Mississippi remains one of few states without an early voting program.

The Legislature had passed a measure on Tuesday to allow folks to more easily vote prior to an election day, but lawmakers held the motion back on a parliamentary motion to reconsider and then failed to vote on that motion before ending the 2025 Legislative Session on Thursday.

On Tuesday, both the House and Senate passed a bill that created a 22-day excused early voting program, which allowed folks to go to their circuit clerk’s office and vote and have the ballot counted into a voting machine if they had one of several excused reasons for not voting on election day.

However, both chambers held the bill’s passage back, and while the House on Wednesday before gaveling out the session had tabled that motion, the Senate did not, leaving the bill on the cutting-room floor.

Senate Elections Chairman Jeremy England, R-Vancleave, told reporters after the Senate adjourned for the year on Thursday that he wants to continue working on the legislation. Specifically, he wants to make sure the program replaces the state’s current in-person absentee voting program and not simply add a new option of voting in addition to that.

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“It was really just some cleanup language that we were going to have to do when we came back anyways,” England said. “And, look, that’s certainly a product of the House going home last weekend and us having about five hours together, as opposed to a weekend together to work on getting a well put together conference report.”

The House last weekend skipped what is commonly known as conference weekend, when lawmakers typically has out final budget proposals before hurriedly passing them through the chamber the following Monday. It also serves as extra time for other pieces of legislation to continue being negotiated.

England also said he had received word that Republican Gov. Tate Reeves would veto the bill. Reeves social media page had several times called out England for his early voting bill, characterizing the effort as a “Democratic priority.”

Several members of the Senate became upset with the back-and-forths between Reeves and England, calling on the governor to act with more civility and respect toward the Senate.

“Instead of having to read a veto message, I would rather just put something together that I know would have a better chance of becoming law (next year),” England said.

Reeves later told the Clarion Ledger his opposition came from his own views on early voting and national GOP positions on the topic.

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“I believe in voting on Election Day,” Reeves said. “… I was in the White House just two weeks ago when President Trump endorsed ‘same-day voting’ and ‘one-day voting’ and encouraged governors to pass laws to stop the ridiculous practice of allowing voting for weeks and weeks that leads to outcomes being delayed for weeks after Election Day. Legislators should be focused on conservative priorities — like eliminating our income tax — not trying to tackle items on the Mississippi Democratic Party’s wish list. I’ll keep pushing back on dumb ideas and look forward to working with legislators on the issues conservative voters that elected us actually care about.”

One of the provisions of the bill, a section that would prohibit the counting of mail-in absentee ballots received after election day for state and local elections, also died with the bill. The state recently lost an appeal in a lawsuit filed by the GOP that successfully challenged the state’s law on counting mail-in absentee ballots received after election day for five days. It is unclear if the case will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The law pertaining to state and local elections will now remain in place for at least another year, as will the state’s 45-day in person “excused” absentee voting program.

The bill’s death also leaves Mississippi as one of only a few states without a true early voting program. During the summer of 2024, the Senate Elections Committee heard testimony from experts saying that early voting was utilized by both Republicans and Democrats in droves, but rural populations would be able to take advantage more so than others.

Grant McLaughlin covers the Legislature and state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.