How To Run For Office

Want to run next time?

To throw your own hat in the ring and run for an elected office in Bay St. Louis, you'll need a few things besides good intentions.  And there are a few extra hurdles for candidates who want to run as Independents, rather than as members Democrat or Republican parties.  This year, candidates had until  March 3, 2017) to "qualify" (or officially sign up) to run for office. 

According to the Mississippi Secretary of State's website, aspiring candidates need to:

• Be a qualified elector (registered voter) of the State of Mississippi and of the district, county or municipality of the office for which he seeks election; 
• Never have been convicted of bribery, perjury or other infamous crime, being a crime punishable by a minimum of one (1) year confinement in the state penitentiary, i.e., all felonies, unless pardoned for the offense, Miss. Const. of 1890, Article IV, § 44; and 
• Never have been convicted of a felony in a court of this state, or, on or after December 8, 1992, of a felony in a federal court, or of an offense in the court of another state which is a felony under the laws of this state, as provided in Section 44 of the Mississippi Constitution; excluding, however, convictions of manslaughter and violations of the United States Internal Revenue Code or any violations of the tax laws of this state, unless the offense also involved the misuse or abuse of an office or money coming into a candidate’s hands by virtue of an office.  
• All signatures on petitions for independent or special election candidates MUST be certified by the signer’s circuit or municipal clerk respectively before filing with the appropriate office. 

A political party candidate must submit two items to the Municipal Clerk’s office: (1) a filing fee of ten dollars ($10.00) by 5:00 p.m. at least sixty (60) days prior to the primary election and, (2) a written Statement of Intent containing the name and address of the candidate, the name of the party with which the candidate is affiliated, and the office the candidate is seeking (Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-309 (1972)). The Municipal Clerk must forward the Statement of Intent and the filing fee to the Secretary of the proper Executive Committee. The forms are available at your Municipal Clerk’s Office, Municipal Party headquarters, and the Secretary of State’s Office (click here to find them on the Secretary of State's website).

Independent candidates do not pay a qualifying fee. To qualify as an independent candidate in a municipal general election, a candidate must file a petition with the Municipal Clerk by 5:00 p.m. on the same day that candidates in Primary Elections must qualify, i.e., at least sixty (60) days prior to the first primary election (Miss. Code Ann. §§ 23-15-361 and 23-15-309 (1972)). The petition must be signed by at least fifty (50) qualified voters of a municipality or ward, if the municipality or ward has a population of one thousand (1,000) residents or more. The petition must be signed by at least fifteen (15) qualified voters of a municipality or ward, if the municipality or ward, has a population of fewer than one thousand (1,000) residents (Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-361 (1972)). The Municipal Clerk must certify that the signatures are those of registered voters in the municipality. Petitions are available at the Municipal Clerk’s Office, the Secretary of State’s Office (and on the SOS website, click here). ​Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-309. 

§ 23-15-361.  If the office sought is elected by ward or district, the petition must contain the signatures of not less than 50 qualified electors of the ward/district, if the ward/district has a population of 1,000 residents or more, or of not less than 15 qualified electors of the ward/district, if the ward/district has a population of less than 1,000.