House Passes Limits on Primary Voting

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – A bill clarifying who can vote in party primary runoffs is moving forward.

The House Thursday passed House Bill 1069 by a vote of 101-19. It makes it a misdemeanor to vote or try to vote in one party’s primary runoff after voting in another party’s primary.

The bill, which moves to the Senate, would put into law what is supposed to be practice. Mississippi law bans people from voting in both primaries the same day.

A longstanding attorney general’s legal opinion says the law prohibits people from crossing over to vote in a second party’s runoff.

The move comes after last year’s contentious Republican U.S. Senate primary. State Sen. Chris McDaniel, who lost the Republican runoff, claimed some people voted in the Democratic primary and the GOP runoff.