The short version.
Pike County, Mississippi has 24,138 active registered voters across 25 precincts, per the official voter file as of July 2026. Here's what it takes to get on the ballot here.
Mississippi runs on party primaries. To get on the ballot you either enter a party primary (file a Statement of Intent and pay the qualifying fee) or run as an independent (pay the same fee and file a petition of voter signatures). County and county-district candidates file with the Pike County Circuit Clerk; statewide, state-district, and legislative candidates file with their party's state executive committee, or with the Secretary of State if running independent.
This page covers how that works for Pike County. It is not legal advice; for the official rules, your Circuit Clerk and the Mississippi Secretary of State's candidate qualifying guide are the sources of truth.
Pike County by the numbers.
- 24,138 active registered voters across 25 precincts (official Mississippi voter file, July 2026).
- 10,353 supervoters (42.89%; voted in at least 3 of the last 4 November generals). These are the doors reliable-voter campaigns knock first.
- In 2024, Pike County cast 15,485 votes for president: 47.8% Democratic, 51.3% Republican.
Statewide coverage details: Motion51 in Mississippi.
The two ways to get on the ballot.
The campaigns that win the field are the ones who start building their list of supporters and volunteers before qualifying even opens, not after. The Pike County voter file is already loaded in Motion51, so you can start finding your people now.
Every Mississippi candidate for a partisan office takes one of two routes: qualify for a party primary, or qualify as an independent for the November ballot.
Option 1: Enter a party primary.
You file a Statement of Intent and pay the qualifying fee set by Miss. Code § 23-15-297. Under Miss. Code § 23-15-299, candidates for county and county-district offices file and pay at the Circuit Clerk's office in their county of residence (the clerk forwards everything to the county party executive committee within two business days). Candidates for statewide, state-district, and legislative offices pay the secretary of their party's state executive committee.
- County offices — sheriff, chancery clerk, circuit clerk, tax assessor, tax collector, county attorney, superintendent of education, county supervisor: $100.
- County surveyor, coroner, constable: $100.
- State Senator or State Representative: $250.
- District Attorney: $250.
- Statewide offices — Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, Insurance, Agriculture: $500–$2,500, set by the party.
- Governor: $1,000–$5,000, set by the party.
- U.S. Senate: $1,000–$5,000, set by the party.
- U.S. House: $500–$2,500, set by the party.
Fees are per Miss. Code § 23-15-297; where a range is shown, the party's state executive committee sets the exact amount. The Secretary of State's candidate qualifying forms page has the current forms and fee confirmations.
Option 2: Run as an independent.
Under Miss. Code § 23-15-359, an independent candidate pays the same qualifying fee and files a petition signed by registered voters of the area the office serves. County-level petitions are filed with the Circuit Clerk; statewide, district, and legislative petitions go to the Secretary of State. Signature minimums:
- County office (sheriff, circuit clerk, tax assessor, and similar): 50 signatures.
- County supervisor district (one of the five beats): 15 signatures.
- State House or State Senate district: 50 signatures.
- Circuit or chancery court district office (e.g., District Attorney): 100 signatures.
- U.S. House (congressional district): 200 signatures.
- Supreme Court district: 300 signatures.
- Statewide office (Governor, U.S. Senate, and similar): 1,000 signatures.
Every signature is checked against the voter rolls, so collect a comfortable cushion. Candidates who petition well treat it as a head start on the field operation: every signer is a confirmed registered voter, and every gatherer is a future volunteer. Petitions cannot be filed online, and nothing can be filed before January 1 of the election year.
Judicial offices (Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, circuit, chancery, and county judges) run nonpartisan under a separate qualifying process, and municipal races file with the municipal clerk on a separate calendar; this page covers county, legislative, statewide, and federal qualifying.
No party registration here, and what that means for you.
One thing that surprises first-time Mississippi candidates: Mississippi has no party registration. The voter file lists every voter's name, address, age, and vote history, but no party. Any registered voter may vote in either party's primary (they just can't vote in both), and any candidate may enter either primary.
For your campaign, that means voter targeting in Pike County is built from vote history (which primaries and generals a voter has actually shown up for) rather than a party label. That's exactly how Motion51 filters work: you define what a likely voter looks like for your race and cut turf from that.
Key Mississippi dates.
Every route onto the November 3, 2026 ballot has closed
Mississippi's big year is 2027, not 2026. What is on this November's ballot is judicial offices, school district trustees and any county special election.
- Thu Aug 20, 2026, 5:00 p.m. CLOSED. Qualifying closed for County School Board, Municipal Separate School District Trustee, Special Municipal Separate School District Trustee and Consolidated School District Trustee -- a statement of intent plus a petition of at least 50 qualified electors, certified by the circuit clerk. The window opened July 21. It also Closed for any county or county-district SPECIAL election on the November ballot (Miss. Code sec. 23-15-839).
- Tue Nov 3, 2026 Write-in is NOT a general route here. Miss. Code sec. 23-15-365 counts a write-in only where a candidate already printed on the ballot has died, resigned, withdrawn or been removed, and only for someone qualified to hold the office. A write-in campaign against a live opponent produces zero counted votes.
- Mon Feb 2, 2026, 5:00 p.m. CLOSED. Judicial qualifying -- CLOSED.
2027 is the county year, and the deadline is in the dead of winter
Every county office is up in 2027 for a four-year term: sheriff, coroner, tax assessor, surveyor, all five supervisor districts, justice court judges, constables, circuit clerk and chancery clerk, plus the district attorney and every statewide office and the whole Legislature. County election commissioner runs on its own clock -- only supervisor Districts Two and Four elect one in 2027, for a three-year term, with Districts One, Three and Five moving to 2028.
- Mon Jan 4, 2027 COMPUTED first practical day to qualify. Assessments cannot be paid before January 1, and January 1, 2027 is a holiday (Miss. Code sec. 23-15-299).
- Mon Feb 1, 2027, 5:00 p.m. COMPUTED QUALIFYING DEADLINE, and the only one that matters. Party-primary AND independent candidates for county and county-district office face the same date (secs. 23-15-299, 23-15-359(3)). There is no petition extension and no late entry. An independent also needs a petition -- 50 qualified electors countywide, 15 for a county district -- CERTIFIED by the circuit clerk before this deadline, so start weeks earlier.
- Tue Aug 3, 2027 COMPUTED first primary, the first Tuesday after the first Monday in August (sec. 23-15-191).
- Tue Aug 31, 2027 COMPUTED primary runoff. Note this is FOUR weeks after the primary, not three: a 2024 act lengthened the interval, so anyone extrapolating from the 2023 cycle will have the wrong date.
- Tue Nov 2, 2027 COMPUTED general election (Miss. Const. art. 5, sec. 140).
Mississippi is an odd-year state whose real deadline lands nine months before anyone votes. A would-be supervisor or sheriff who starts organising in the spring of 2027 has already lost the cycle, and there is no meaningful write-in behind it. Put February 1, 2027 in your calendar now, and the circuit clerk's certification a few weeks before that.
Status as of October 18, 2026: dates that have passed are greyed out and marked CLOSED.
The 2026 dates come from the Mississippi Secretary of State's published 2026 elections calendar and county election handbook, read on 2026-08-20. No 2027 calendar has been published yet -- Mississippi usually posts one in the autumn of the preceding year -- so the 2027 dates below are computed from statute and the state constitution and should be re-checked against that calendar when it appears. Confirm with your circuit clerk.
The 2027 ballot in Pike County.
These 2027 dates are confirmed against the state's own published calendar or statute. Anything our research could not confirm is left off this page rather than estimated.
-
August 3, 2027
Primary — State and county.
Party primaries for every state and county office: Governor and the other statewide offices, all 52 State Senate and 122 State House seats, district attorneys, and the county offices -- the five supervisors, sheriff, chancery clerk, circuit clerk, tax assessor, tax collector, coroner, surveyor and constables. Nonpartisan offices such as justice court judge go straight to the November ballot.
Candidate filing: opens Jan 1, 2027, closes Feb 1, 2027.
Source 1 · Source 2 -
August 31, 2027
Runoff — State and county.
Primary runoff, held only in races where no candidate won a majority on August 3.
Source 1 · Source 2 -
November 2, 2027
General — State and county.
General election for all state and county offices, including justice court judges and the county election commissioners for supervisor districts 2 and 4.
Candidate filing: opens Jan 4, 2027, closes Feb 1, 2027.
Source 1 · Source 2 -
November 30, 2027
Runoff — State and county.
General-election runoff for any contest where no candidate won a majority on November 2, statewide races included.
Source 1 · Source 2
2027 dates can move, and a municipality can change its own election date by ordinance. Which seats are on a given ballot depends on when each was last filled. Confirm anything you are relying on with the Pike County Circuit Clerk before you act on it.
Pike County at a glance.
Pike County had an estimated 38,980 residents in July 2024, the 19th most populous of Mississippi's 82 counties, down 3.3% since the 2020 census. Of those, 29,244 are 18 or older, the voting-age population, and 18.7% are 65 or older. Its 24,138 active registered voters equal about 82.5% of that voting-age population.
It covers 409 square miles of land (95 people per square mile), and 60.6% of residents live outside any incorporated city or town. The largest cities and towns are McComb (11,762), Magnolia (1,816), Summit (1,438) and Osyka (360). The American Community Survey (2020-2024) puts it at a median age of 37.9, a median household income of $43,814, 15.3% of adults 25 and older holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 66.8% of occupied homes owned by the people living in them.
In 2024, 15,485 votes were cast for president, about 53.0% of the voting-age population; the Democratic ticket took 47.8% and the Republican ticket 51.3%. The two-party margin moved from D+3.5 in 2008 to R+3.5 in 2024.
- Population (2024 estimate)
- 38,980
- Population (2020 census base)
- 40,325
- Voting-age population (18+)
- 29,244
- Active voters per 100 adults
- 82.5
- Residents 65 and older
- 18.7%
- People per square mile
- 95
- Living outside incorporated places
- 60.6%
- Land area
- 409 sq mi
- Median age
- 37.9
- Median household income
- $43,814
- Adults 25+ with a bachelor's degree
- 15.3%
- Owner-occupied homes
- 66.8%
Largest cities and towns
- McComb 11,762
- Magnolia 1,816
- Summit 1,438
- Osyka 360
Presidential vote, 2008–2024
| Year | Democratic | Republican | Margin | Votes cast |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 47.8% | 51.3% | R+3.5 | 15,485 |
| 2020 | 49.8% | 48.8% | D+1.0 | 17,360 |
| 2016 | 48.8% | 49.6% | R+0.8 | 15,633 |
| 2012 | 53.4% | 45.8% | D+7.6 | 17,429 |
| 2008 | 51.4% | 47.9% | D+3.5 | 18,055 |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2024 population estimates and 2024 Gazetteer; American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates; certified county presidential returns. Growth, density and turnout are simple arithmetic on those figures.
Counties next to Pike.
Running in a district that crosses a county line? Each of these has its own guide.
Registered voters, the most reliable-voting precincts and how this county has voted: Pike County voter data.
Offices on the 2027 ballot.
Up in 2027 (primary August 3, general November 2):
- Governor and the seven other statewide executive offices (Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, Insurance, Agriculture & Commerce)
- Public Service Commission and Transportation Commission — all three districts each
- Mississippi Senate — all 52 seats
- Mississippi House — all 122 seats
- District Attorneys — every circuit court district
- County offices — sheriff, chancery clerk, circuit clerk, tax assessor/collector, all five supervisor districts, coroner, county attorney, justice court judges, constables, election commissioners
School board seats and municipal offices run on their own calendars, and the exact list of Pike County seats up this cycle can vary; confirm with the Circuit Clerk's office below.
Your Circuit Clerk.
Mississippi runs county qualifying through its 82 Circuit Clerks. The Pike County Circuit Clerk is where county and county-district candidates file, where independent county petitions are turned in, and the source of truth for local dates, districts, and forms.
- Office
- P.O. Box 31, Magnolia, MS 39652
- Phone
- (601) 783-2581
Contact details verified 2026-07-03. If a field is wrong or out of date, the Mississippi Judiciary circuit clerk directory above is the canonical source.
After you qualify: building a field operation.
The paperwork ends the day you file. What starts then is the actual campaign: knocking on doors, recruiting volunteers, and identifying the voters who'll show up for you in the primary and in November.
That's what Motion51 is built for. The Pike County voter file is already loaded: no chasing a CSV or paying a vendor. You scope your district, recruit volunteers, cut turf, and start knocking. The app works offline for neighborhoods with bad cell coverage, and every door is logged with a timestamp.
If qualifying is settled and you're thinking about the field operation, our For Candidates page walks through the next steps.