HB 291 Mississippi House · 2025 Regular Session

County and county district officers; require to have runoff election if no candidate receives majority after general election.

HB 291 requires county and county district officers (such as sheriffs, clerks, and supervisors) to secure a majority vote in the general election to win office. If no candidate receives a majority, the top two vote-getters will face a runoff election four weeks later. The bill amends Mississippi election code to extend the runoff timeline from three to four weeks and clarifies tie-breaking procedures. This change directly affects all local elected officials in Mississippi county and district offices.

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Feb 2025

House Passage

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Mar 2025

Signed into Law

Mar 2025

Introduced Feb 12, 2025 Signed Mar 24, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

As Passed the lower → Current version · 4 edits

MODERATE

HB 291 was amended to strengthen election requirements by clarifying that ALL candidates must secure a majority vote to be elected, not just county and county district officers. The bill also removed references to county and county district officers from the runoff election provisions, focusing the requirements on state officers only. Technical changes include updating the title from 'As Passed the House' to 'As Sent to Governor' and minor formatting adjustments throughout the text.

Scope change

The bill's scope was narrowed from covering county and county district officers to focusing primarily on state officers, removing county-level election procedures from the runoff provisions.

REQUIREMENT

Changed the preamble to require ALL candidates running in state general elections to secure a majority vote to be elected, rather than only county and county district officers.

Removed references to county and county district officers from the runoff election provisions in Section 1, subsection (2).

TECHNICAL

Updated document title from 'As Passed the House' to 'As Sent to Governor' to reflect the bill's current legislative status.

Minor formatting changes including spacing adjustments and removal of redundant text about county officers in various sections.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 6, 2025 · House Feb 11, 2025

How they voted

41–2

Passed · 8 other

Total votes 51

Mar 6, 2025

D Democratic16

7 Yea 2 Nay 7

43% Yea

R Republican35

34 Yea 1

97% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Mar 24, 2025

Signed into law

Approved by Governor

executive

Mar 13, 2025

Lower · Passed

Concurred in Amend From Senate

lower

Mar 6, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed As Amended

upper

Mar 6, 2025

Upper · Passed

Amended

upper

Feb 27, 2025

Upper · Passed

Title Suff Do Pass As Amended

upper

Feb 14, 2025

Committee

Referred To Elections

upper

Feb 12, 2025

Introduced

Transmitted To Senate

lower

Feb 11, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed

lower

Jan 30, 2025

Lower · Passed

Title Suff Do Pass

lower

Jan 10, 2025

Committee

Referred To Apportionment and Elections

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors