Can a Mississippi poll worker stop a candidate or supporter from using a bullhorn near a polling place, even if the person stays outside the 150-foot buffer zone?
Plain-English summary
The Mississippi Secretary of State asked the AG whether election bailiffs (the poll managers designated to keep order at the polls) can do anything about candidates and supporters using bullhorns near polling places. The concern: someone could stand more than 150 feet from the polling place (outside the campaign-literature buffer zone in § 23-15-895) and still drown out polling place activity through sheer volume.
The AG said yes. Section 23-15-241 gives the election bailiff authority to "prevent improper intrusion upon the voting place or interference with the election" and to "arrest all persons creating any disturbance about the voting place." The statute is not limited by physical distance. If the bailiff makes a real-time judgment that a noise amplifier is creating an improper intrusion or disturbance or interfering with the election, they can take appropriate action, including calling local law enforcement, regardless of how far away the speaker is standing.
What this means for you
If you are a poll manager or election bailiff in Mississippi
You don't have to wait for someone to cross the 30-foot or 150-foot lines to act. If a bullhorn or amplified speaker is making it hard for voters to hear instructions, scaring voters away from the polling place, or otherwise interfering with the election, you have authority under § 23-15-241 to step in. Practical steps:
- Document the disturbance. Note the time, the source of the noise, and the impact on voters (long lines, voters leaving, inability to give instructions).
- Ask first. A polite request to lower the volume or stop using the amplifier often resolves it.
- Call local law enforcement if the request is refused. § 23-15-241 lets you arrest, but in practice you will use police.
- Treat your judgment as the legal trigger. The AG's framing turns on whether you, the bailiff, determine that the device is creating an improper intrusion, interference, or disturbance. Make that determination on the record.
If you are a candidate, campaign manager, or supporter on Election Day
A bullhorn near the polls is a legal risk, even if you're standing well outside the 150-foot zone. The election bailiff can shut you down and call police if the noise interferes with the election, with no requirement to wait for you to cross any line. Speech rights at polling places are real but narrow on Election Day. The safer practice is to keep amplification away from polling places entirely on Election Day.
If you are a county election commissioner or circuit clerk training poll workers
Build the bullhorn rule into bailiff training. Teach poll managers that:
- The 30-foot zone (§ 23-15-245) and 150-foot zone (§ 23-15-895) are physical buffers for people and literature, not the outer limit of bailiff authority.
- § 23-15-241 reaches further when sound travels further.
- Their on-scene judgment about "improper intrusion," "interference," or "disturbance" is what triggers the authority.
- They should call local law enforcement rather than try to make arrests themselves in most cases.
If you are a voter encountering a bullhorn at the polls
Tell the election bailiff or poll manager what's happening. They have authority to act under § 23-15-241, and the AG's opinion explicitly contemplates that action. If they do not act, contact your circuit clerk's office or the Secretary of State's elections division.
Common questions
Q: How close can someone with a bullhorn legally stand?
A: There is no specific distance for amplified sound. The 30-foot rule (§ 23-15-245) keeps people other than election officials, voters, and poll watchers out of the immediate voting area. The 150-foot rule (§ 23-15-895) prohibits campaign literature within that range. Neither addresses noise. The AG's opinion is that bullhorn use can be stopped at any distance if it creates a disturbance, intrusion, or interference.
Q: Does this rule apply to non-political noise too, like a contractor's jackhammer?
A: § 23-15-241 is about preventing disturbance, intrusion, and interference with the election. The statute is not limited to political speech. A bailiff could in principle act against any disruptive noise around a polling place, although construction noise typically would be addressed by the polling location host or election commissioners ahead of Election Day.
Q: Can a bailiff actually arrest someone, or is that just police work?
A: § 23-15-241 says the bailiff "shall ... arrest all persons creating any disturbance about the voting place." In practice, bailiffs work with local law enforcement to physically detain anyone. The bailiff's role is to make the call that an arrest is needed and to summon assistance.
Q: What about the speaker's First Amendment rights?
A: Polling places are subject to special restrictions on speech to protect the integrity of voting. Mississippi's election laws have been read to allow time, place, and manner regulation of campaign activity around polls. The AG's opinion does not analyze the First Amendment in detail, but a bailiff who acts in good faith based on actual interference with voting is operating well within the bounds the courts have allowed.
Q: Does this apply to absentee voting locations or just Election Day polling places?
A: § 23-15-241 speaks to "the voting place" and the duties of the poll manager designated as election bailiff. The statute is most clearly aimed at Election Day polling places. Absentee voting at the circuit clerk's office is governed by other rules.
Q: Should the bailiff give a warning before calling police?
A: The AG opinion encourages the Secretary of State's office to incorporate guidelines into election officials' training. A warning is not legally required, but in practice it is the sensible first step and is consistent with the bailiff's role of keeping the peace, not just enforcing rules.
Background and statutory framework
Mississippi's election laws set up a layered approach to keeping order at polls:
- § 23-15-241 designates one poll manager as the election bailiff, with broad authority to "keep the peace," "protect the voting place," "prevent improper intrusion upon the voting place or interference with the election," and "arrest all persons creating any disturbance about the voting place." The statute does not impose a distance limit on this authority.
- § 23-15-245 mandates a 30-foot zone "kept open and clear of all persons except the election officials, individuals present to vote and credentialed poll watchers."
- § 23-15-895 prohibits the distribution of campaign literature within 150 feet of the entrance of the polling place.
The Secretary of State's concern was that bullhorns, by their nature, project sound far beyond any physical zone. A person 200 feet from a polling place can still drown out instructions inside it. The AG read § 23-15-241 to be the catch-all authority that addresses sound that crosses physical boundaries even when the speaker does not. The decision is committed to the bailiff's on-scene judgment, not to a bright-line distance rule.
Citations and references
Statutes:
- Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-241 (election bailiff duties: keep the peace, prevent improper intrusion or interference, arrest those creating disturbance)
- Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-245 (30-foot zone open and clear of all but election officials, voters, and credentialed poll watchers)
- Miss. Code Ann. § 23-15-895 (no distribution of campaign literature within 150 feet of polling place entrance)
Source
- Landing page: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/divisions/opinions-and-policy/recent-opinions/
- Original PDF: https://attorneygenerallynnfitch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/M.Watson-August-2-2023-Use-of-Noise-Amplifying-Devices-Around-Polling-Places.pdf
Original opinion text
August 2, 2023
The Honorable Michael Watson
Secretary of State, Mississippi
401 Mississippi Street
Jackson, Mississippi 39201
Re: Use of Noise Amplifying Devices Around Polling Places
Dear Secretary Watson:
The Office of the Attorney General has received your request for an official opinion.
Background
According to your request, you have received inquiries from circuit clerks and election commissioners as to what action, if any, may be taken by a poll manager designated as election bailiff when noise amplifying devices, specifically bullhorns, are being used around polling places during an election. You are concerned that these noise amplifying devices would amplify the words of candidates and/or candidate supporters who may be standing more than one hundred fifty feet from the polling place, but who, by virtue of the increased volume and noise, could still be disturbing the peace and interfering with the election process in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated Section 23-15-241.
Question Presented
In making a determination as to whether or not an improper intrusion or interference with the election has occurred as contemplated in Section 23-15-241, are election bailiffs authorized to request that the use of noise amplifying devices be discontinued if the use of such devices causes a disturbance about the voting place or other improper intrusion and interference with the election?
Brief Response
If an election bailiff determines, based on the scene before him or her, that the use of a noise amplifying device is creating a disturbance about the voting place, causing an improper intrusion upon the voting place, or interfering with the election, he or she has the authority pursuant to Section 23-15-241 to take action, with the assistance of local law enforcement if necessary, to stop the disturbance and to enable all qualified voters, who have not voted and who desire to vote, to have unobstructed access to the polls.
Applicable Law and Discussion
Section 23-15-241 provides:
The poll manager designated an [sic] election bailiff shall, in addition to his or her other duties, be present during the election to keep the peace and to protect the voting place, and to prevent improper intrusion upon the voting place or interference with the election, and to arrest all persons creating any disturbance about the voting place, and to enable all qualified electors who have not voted, and who desire to vote, to have unobstructed access to the polls for the purpose of voting when others are not voting.
In your request, you also reference Sections 23-15-245 and 23-15-895. Section 23-15-245, which mandates a space of thirty feet "be kept open and clear of all persons except the election officials, individuals present to vote and credentialed poll watchers," and Section 23-15-895, which prohibits the distribution of campaign literature within one hundred fifty feet of the entrance of the building where an election is being held, both establish physical boundaries inside of which voters are free to exercise their vote without influence or interference. However, a bullhorn or other noise amplifying device may create the same issues of influence or interference without crossing those physical boundaries. Neither Section 23-15-241, which authorizes the election bailiff to prevent improper intrusion upon the voting place or interference with the election, nor Section 23-15-245, which also authorizes the election bailiff to "take such steps as will accomplish the purpose of his or her appointment," are limited by physical distance. It is, therefore, the opinion of this office that if the election bailiff makes the determination that a noise amplification device is creating an improper intrusion upon the voting place, interfering with the election, or creating a disturbance, he or she may take appropriate action to stop the interference or disturbance regardless of the distance from the polls, with assistance from local law enforcement, if necessary. We encourage the Secretary of State's Office to incorporate appropriate guidelines into election officials' training.
If this office may be of any further assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
LYNN FITCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL
By: /s/ Beebe Garrard
Beebe Garrard
Special Assistant Attorney General