Vote absentee in person, and your ballot now goes straight into the counting machine

Before this law, an in-person absentee voter filled out a ballot at the circuit clerk’s office, sealed it in an envelope, and the envelope sat until after the polls closed on election night. Now the clerk prints your ballot, you mark it and you feed it into the same kind of scanner used at the polls, according to the bill summary the Wire read. You still show voter ID and sign the voter’s certificate.

In-person absentee voting starts up to 45 days before an election and ends at noon the Saturday before a Tuesday election. A signature mismatch is not a reason to reject an in-person absentee ballot. Clerks must seal the scanners every night, keep a seal log and print a daily count that anyone can request.

Mailed absentee ballots still arrive in envelopes, stay locked at the registrar’s office and are counted when the polls close. Ballots that scanners reject go to a trained resolution board of at least three people, which can make a duplicate the scanner will read. Every county must record each absentee application and ballot in the Statewide Election Management System.

‘We got rid of the envelope this year,’ Sen. Jeremy England, a Vancleave Republican, told SuperTalk. ‘At 7 p.m. on Election Day, those votes are going to be tallied just like everybody else’s.’ Under the old system, absentee ballots were not counted until after the polls closed, which often led to long waits for results, particularly in rural areas, SuperTalk reported.

Supporters said feeding the ballot into a machine reduces the risk of a ballot being disqualified, WLOX reported. England told SuperTalk the bill stemmed from growing distrust of elections, and SuperTalk cited a University of California San Diego survey in which 40% of respondents nationwide doubted votes would be counted accurately in 2026.

Rep. Noah Sanford, a Republican, sponsored the bill. It passed with a single dissenting vote, SuperTalk reported, and Gov. Tate Reeves signed it March 19, according to the bill history. It was one of eight election bills enacted in 2026, Ballotpedia reported.

A companion law, HB 858, bars any ballot scanner that can make a wireless connection from being used in an election, Ballotpedia reported.

Counties and cities may buy or rent scanners that meet state standards, and county supervisors pay for the seals, according to the bill summary. The Wire could not find a statewide cost estimate or a figure for Hinds County.

If you vote absentee in person for the Nov. 3 election, the window runs Sept. 21 through noon on Saturday, Oct. 31, SuperTalk reported. Bring your ID, fill out the application, sign the certificate, mark the printed ballot and feed it into the scanner yourself.

Once you cast an absentee ballot, by mail or in person, it is final; you cannot also vote at your precinct.

For most Jackson voters the change applies at the Hinds County circuit clerk’s office. The Wire could not find how many in-person absentee ballots Hinds County expects.

Election night, Nov. 3: whether Hinds County and the state report results faster than in past years.

The daily in-person absentee counts that clerks must now print.