§ Miss. Code § 23-15-5Elections Support Fund created; use of funds

(1) There is created in the State Treasury a special fund to be known as the Elections Support
Fund. Monies derived from annual report fees imposed upon limited liability companies under
Section 79-29-1203 shall be deposited into the Elections Support Fund. Unexpended amounts
remaining in the fund at the end of the fiscal year shall not lapse into the State General Fund, and
any interest earned or investment earnings on amounts in the fund shall be disbursed as provided
in subsection (2) of this section. The expenditure of monies in the fund shall be under the
direction of the Secretary of State as provided by subsection (2) of this section, and such funds
shall be paid by the State Treasurer upon warrants issued by the Department of Finance and
Administration.
(2) (a) Monies in the fund shall be used as follows:
(i) Fifty percent (50%) of the monies in the special fund shall be distributed annually to the
counties, based on the proportion that the population of a county bears to the total population in
all counties of the state population according to the most recent information from the United
States Census Bureau, for the purpose of acquiring, upgrading, maintaining or repairing voting
equipment, systems and supplies, hiring temporary technical support, conducting elections using
such voting equipment or systems and training election officials; and
(ii) The remaining fifty percent (50%) of the monies in the special fund shall be allocated
annually to the Secretary of State and expended for the purpose of maintaining, upgrading or
equipping the Statewide Elections Management System.
(b) The Secretary of State shall create standard training guidelines to assist counties in
training election officials with the funds authorized under subsection (2)(a)(ii) of this section.
Any criteria established by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this section shall be used in
addition to any other training or coursework prescribed by the Secretary of State to train circuit
clerks, poll managers and any other election officials participating in county elections.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no monies from the Elections Support Fund
shall be used by the Secretary of State or any person associated with the Office of the Secretary
of State to provide or otherwise support expert testimony in any manner for any hearing, trial or
election contest.