An assistant district attorney from Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood’s office was reviewing another matter a few weeks ago when the assistant DA discovered that Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann’s office had failed to place the fiscal analysis on the three ballot initiatives as is required by the state Constitution, according to Hood.
The snafu is going to end up costing the Secretary of State’s office, since most counties had already ordered their ballots and had to have them reprinted with the fiscal information — most notably involving the voter ID initiative which is estimated to cost taxpayers $1.49 million.
The other initiatives, personhood and eminent domain, are estimated to have no cost. Hosemann’s office plans to reimburse counties for the cost to have the ballots or inserts printed. In Jackson County, that amounted to about $2,000 said Elections Commissioner Danny Glaskox.
Hood’s office reported that it took about a month to fix the error simply because the AG typically has nothing to do with ballot prep. “Pursuant to code section 23-15-367,” Hood said, “it is the responsibility of the Secretary of State to prepare the ballot and the Governor to approve it.”
Full Article: Ballot snafu discovered by happenstance, House Republicans vow to protect ’13th check’ (Political skinny) | gulflive.com.