SOUTHAVEN, Miss — Tuesday, the Mississippi state Senate approved a bill to allow early in-person voting 15 days before election day.
The Magnolia State is currently one of just a few to not allow for early voting without special circumstances.
Senate Bill 2580 would allow “no-excuse” in-person voting at the office of the registrar in the location where someone is registered to vote — as long as they present a valid ID.
DeSoto County residents told ABC24 they think it could be a step in the right direction when it comes to better voter access.
“For far too long in Mississippi there’s always been a problem with voting access,” said Elijah Jones of Southaven.
Current Mississippi law allows for early in-person absentee voting but only if voters fall in to specific categories. That includes having a disability, being 65 or older or needing to vote early if a person knows they’ll be out of town on election day.
“Especially among minorities — older people,” Jones said. “It’s always hard around that time to get people to vote.”
DeSoto County resident Casey Kreyer, who says he currently can’t vote due to his criminal record, says voting access maters.
“Because some people aren’t pro-working man and won’t give you a seat at the table,” Kreyer said. “You got to be pro-working man. The working man drives America.”
The text of SB 2580 says it is meant to prohibit ballot drop boxes or ballot harvesting. Jones hopes that can stop unfounded claims of election fraud.
“Which I think is not true but in any case, it would eliminate the excuse if we were to have early voting where people can come in, stand in and vote,” Jones said.
If passed, the bill would do away with in-person absentee voting but still allow for mail-in absentee voting in those special circumstances. The proposal now heads to the house for approval.
If signed into law, it would take effect January of 2026.