Under Mississippi law, a person must be registered to vote at the place of their permanent residence. For college students, this is generally one of two places: your parents’ or guardian’s home or your campus dormitory or apartment. It is important to know that you can only legally be registered in one county and how this choice will affect your voting process.
Make Your Choice
OPTION 1: Keep Your Voter Registration At Your Parents’ Or Guardian’s Home
If you consider your parents’ or guardian’s home as your permanent residence, and you are just temporarily staying at your school residence while attending college, then you can keep your voter registration at your parents’ or guardian’s home. If you choose this option:
- You will vote in your parents’ or guardian’s home county’s local elections, such as county sheriff and any representatives that represent all or some of your home county.
- Because most elections are held during the school semester, you may not be able to vote in person at your home county on Election Day, meaning you will need to contact your home county circuit clerk to discuss voting by absentee.*
OPTION 2: Register Or Move Your Registration To Vote At School Residence
If you consider your school residence as your permanent residence while you are attending college, you can register to vote at that location. Those who register at their school residence will:
- Be registered to vote in the county where your school is and vote in that county’s elections. Example: for Mississippi State University, students would vote for Oktibbeha County sheriff and for the representatives who represent Oktibbeha County.
- When an election is held and you aren’t at your campus residence, such as for elections held during summer break, you will need to contact the County Circuit Clerk about voting absentee.*
*ABSENTEE:
It is important to start this process early. This ensures you have enough time to have your ballot materials sent to you and for you to return them.
To find out more information about voting absentee, you can visit the Secretary of State’s step-by-step absentee voting guide.