Mississippi Secretary of State election, 2023

	← 2019
Mississippi Secretary of State
	Democratic primary; Republican primary; General election;
Election details
	Filing deadline: February 1, 2023
	Primary: August 8, 2023; Primary runoff: August 29, 2023; General: November 7, 2023; General runoff: November 28, 2023 (canceled); Pre-election incumbent(s):; Michael D. Watson Jr. (Republican)
How to vote
	Poll times: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Voting in Mississippi
Ballotpedia analysis
	Federal and state primary competitiveness; State executive elections in 2023; Impact of term limits in 2023; State government trifectas; State government triplexes; Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2023
Mississippi; executive elections
	Governor; Lieutenant Governor; Attorney General; Secretary of State; Treasurer; Auditor; Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce; Commissioner of Insurance; Public Service Commission (3 seats); Transportation Commission (3 seats)

Mississippi 2023 elections

Governor • Lt. Gov • Attorney General • Secretary of State • State executive offices • State Senate • State House • Special state legislative • School boards • How to run for office

Mississippi held an election for secretary of state on November 7, 2023. The primary was August 8, 2023, and a primary runoff was August 29, 2023. The general runoff election was scheduled for November 28, 2023, but it was canceled. The filing deadline was February 1, 2023.

Incumbent Michael D. Watson Jr. won election in the general election for Mississippi Secretary of State.

For more information about the primaries in this election, click on the links below:

Candidates and election results

General election

General election for Mississippi Secretary of State

Incumbent Michael D. Watson Jr. defeated Ty Pinkins in the general election for Mississippi Secretary of State on November 7, 2023.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Michael D. Watson Jr. (R)	59.5	481,895
	Ty Pinkins (D)	40.5	328,067

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 809,962
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Shuwaski Young (D)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Mississippi Secretary of State

Shuwaski Young advanced from the Democratic primary for Mississippi Secretary of State on August 8, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Shuwaski Young	100.0	183,120

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source 1 Source 2 Source 3	Total votes: 183,120
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Mississippi Secretary of State

Incumbent Michael D. Watson Jr. advanced from the Republican primary for Mississippi Secretary of State on August 8, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Michael D. Watson Jr.	100.0	351,774

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 351,774
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

On August 27, 2023, Democratic candidate Shuwaski Young announced he would be withdrawing from the 2023 Mississippi Secretary of State election.^[1]

Candidate profiles

There were no candidate profiles created for this race. Candidate profiles would have appeared here as candidates completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.

Voting information

See also: Voting in Mississippi

Election information in Mississippi: Nov. 7, 2023, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

In-person: Oct. 9, 2023
By mail: Postmarked by Oct. 10, 2023
Online: N/A

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

No

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

In-person: N/A
By mail: N/A by N/A
Online: N/A

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

In-person: Nov. 7, 2023
By mail: Postmarked by Nov. 7, 2023

Was early voting available to all voters?

N/A

What were the early voting start and end dates?

N/A to N/A

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

Photo ID

When were polls open on Election Day?

7:00 AM - 7:00 PM (CST)

Election history