The Senate has sent a bill to the House to allow Mississippians to vote early at their county circuit clerk’s office 15 days before an election.
However, in the hours since its passing, the bill has seen push back from top GOP leadership.
On Tuesday, Senate Bill 2654 passed 39-12. Mostly Republicans voted against the measure.
If it passes through the House as is, the bill would allow people to vote early in-person at county circuit clerk’s offices 15 days prior to an election. That would replace in-person absentee voting but keep mail-in absentee ballots. Voting early in person would not require a reason as it is currently required for absentee voting.
While the bill passed through the chamber, it was critiqued on and off the Senate floor and also in committee before that.
Republican Gov. Tate Reeves, who often opines on progressing legislation during session, called Senate Elections Chairman Jeremy England’s bill a bad idea for the state.
Sen. Derrick T. Simmons, D-Greenville, and Sen. Jeremy England, R-Ocean Springs, laugh together on the first day of the 2025 legislative session at the Mississippi State Capitol in Jackson on Jan. 7. On Wednesday, the Senate passed a bill to establish early in person voting.
Elections Committee advances bills: MS Senate, House advance election, campaign finance reforms by deadline. See what happened
“I believe Mississippians want our elected leaders to make our elections more secure and make it harder to cheat — in fact, after the 2020 elections Republicans are demanding it,” Reeves said in a post on X.com, formerly Twitter.
“Unfortunately, Sen. Jeremy England joined every Senate Democrat today to do the exact opposite with his no-excuse Early Voting bill — one of the top priorities of the Mississippi Democrat Party. Keep in mind — every Republican Senate Elections Chair before him has killed that terrible idea! Congrats to Senator England — he has earned his MVP award for the Mississippi Democrat Party.”
England, a Republican from Ocean Springs, later bucked back at Reeves with a post of his own, calling the governor’s characterizations of the bill ridiculous.
“Forty seven other states have some form of Early Voting. Red States and Blue States,” England wrote in a Wednesday morning Facebook post. “‘Early Voting’ is not something that is owned by one party or the other — though I will say I truly believe Republicans will get left behind if we do not get on board. A prime example from recent history: We saw our Republican Party lose the Presidential Election in 2020 while we shunned and ignored In-Person Early Voting. However, our Republican Party embraced and promoted In-Person Early Voting in 2024, and we won big.”
Facts on early voting: Mississippi is one of three states without early in-person voting. See efforts to alter that
Mississippi is indeed one of only three states without an early in-person voting period. During the summer, 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.
England filed a similar bill in the 2024 session, but it died in committee before the full Senate chamber could consider the measure.
Grant McLaughlin covers the Legislature and state government for the Clarion Ledger. He can be reached at gmclaughlin@gannett.com or 972-571-2335.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi Senate passes early voting bill, House to consider measure
