Voters to cast ballots on November 5, some at new location
By Toni Miles
Cited by many as perhaps the most important Presidential election in their lifetime, on Tuesday, November 5, millions of Americans, including thousands in Long Beach, will head to the polls to cast their ballots in the General Election, deciding who will be the next President and Vice President of the United States. On the Republican ticket are (former President, 2016-2020) Presidential candidate Donald Trump and his running mate, Vice Presidential Candidate, and current U.S. Senator for Ohio, JD Vance. On the Democratic ticket are current Vice President and Presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her running mate, Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz, who currently serves as Governor of Minnesota. Other Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates listed as the nominees for the Green, Libertarian and Mississippi Constitution parties (Presidential Electors for Randall Terry for President and Stephen E. Broden for Vice President), along with four Independent Presidential candidates and their running mates (Vice Presidential candidates) will all be on the General Election ballot.
Mississippi contributes six of the nation’s total five hundred thirty-eight electoral votes in the U.S. Presidential election, which requires the winning candidate to secure a majority of the nation’s electoral votes to become the next President (and Vice President) of the United States. Each state has the same number of electors as it does members in its U.S. Congressional delegation, one for each member in the U.S. House of Representatives (Mississippi has four) plus two U.S. Senators.
Also, if no one candidate (for any of the races) gets a majority of the vote on November 5, a runoff will be held between the top two candidates receiving the most votes, on Tuesday, November 26.
The winner of the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election is expected to take the oath of office as the 47th President on that day, and the winner’s running mate is expected to take the oath of office as the 50th Vice President.
Also on the ballot will be the race for Mississippi’s next U.S. Senators in Congress. Local voters will choose between Democratic candidate Ty Pinkins, a decorated veteran of the U.S. Army, and incumbent U.S. Senator and Republican candidate Roger Wicker.
Races for all U.S. House districts, including the race for the U.S. House of Representatives seat for District 4 in South Mississippi, will also be on the November 5 ballot. In that race, Democratic candidate Craig Eliott Raybon of Gulfport, faces incumbent Republican Mike Ezell, former sheriff of Jackson County, who lives in Pascagoula.
The 2025 Regular Session of the Mississippi Legislature will convene at noon on Tuesday, January 25, at the State Capitol in Jackson.
As for the upcoming General Election, South Mississippi voters will also cast their ballots for a number of state judicial offices on November 5.
Polls in the area and across the nation will open at 7 am on Tuesday, November 5, and will remain open until 7 pm. The deadline has passed to register to vote in the November 5 General Election. Voters are required to bring an acceptable form of identification to vote on election day.
The in-person absentee voting deadline in Mississippi is Saturday, November 2. Absentee ballot applications are now available in the Harrison County Circuit Clerk’s office. Those qualifying may vote absentee in person from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday until November 2. The Harrison County Circuit Clerk’s Office, located at 1801 23rd Avenue in Gulfport, will be open for in-person absentee voting from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, October 25, and on Saturday, November 2, as well. For more information, call the Harrison County Circuit Clerk’s Office at: 228-865-1635 or visit their website at HarrisonCountyMS.gov.
Mail-in absentee ballots must be mailed and postmarked no later than November 5, 2024. The Mississippi Secretary of State’s “Y’all Vote” website includes an Absentee Voting FAQ and Step-by-Step Guide to Absentee Voting.
Long Beach voters in precincts 5 and 6 will be casting their ballots at a new location November 5. Residents who used to vote at Long Beach precinct 5, which was located at Grace Lutheran Church on 19221 Pineville Road, and Long Beach precinct 6, which was located at the Long Beach School District’s Central Office, will now head over to the Long Beach Senior Center located at 20257 Daugherty Road to cast their ballots in the General Election, per a decision made by the Harrison County Board of Supervisors back in June. Voters in the areas where the two former precincts have been combined should have already received their new voter registration cards from the Harrison County Circuit Clerk’s Office.
For more information on the upcoming election, visit HarrisonCountyMS.gov; the Mississippi Secretary of State’s official webpage at sos.ms.gov; Vote411.org; or Ballotpedia.org. 
