Constitution; conform initiative signature requirements from each congressional district for an initiative petition to the number of current districts.

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To: Constitution
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative McCray

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 14

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO SECTION 1
273, MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, TO CONFORM THE PRO RATA 2
SIGNATURE REQUIREMENTS FROM EACH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT FOR AN 3
INITIATIVE PETITION TO THE NUMBER OF CURRENT CONGRESSIONAL 4
DISTRICTS. 5
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF 6
MISSISSIPPI, That the following amendment to the Mississippi 7
Constitution of 1890 is proposed to the qualified electors of the 8
state: 9
Amend Section 273, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read 10
as follows: 11
Section 273. (1) Amendments to this Constitution may be 12
proposed by the Legislature or by initiative of the people. 13
(2) Whenever two-thirds (2/3) of each house of the 14
Legislature, which two-thirds (2/3) shall consist of not less than 15
a majority of the members elected to each house, shall deem any 16
change, alteration or amendment necessary to this Constitution, 17
such proposed amendment, change or alteration shall be read and 18
passed by two-thirds (2/3) vote of each house, as herein provided; 19
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public notice shall then be given by the Secretary of State at 20
least thirty (30) days preceding an election, at which the 21
qualified electors shall vote directly for or against such change, 22
alteration or amendment, and if more than one (1) amendment shall 23
be submitted at one (1) time, they shall be submitted in such 24
manner and form that the people may vote for or against each 25
amendment separately; and, notwithstanding the division of the 26
Constitution into sections, the Legislature may provide in its 27
resolution for one or more amendments pertaining and relating to 28
the same subject or subject matter, and may provide for one or 29
more amendments to an article of the Constitution pertaining and 30
relating to the same subject or subject matter, which may be 31
included in and voted on as one (1) amendment; and if it shall 32
appear that a majority of the qualified electors voting directly 33
for or against the same shall have voted for the proposed change, 34
alteration or amendment, then it shall be inserted as a part of 35
the Constitution by proclamation of the Secretary of State 36
certifying that it received the majority vote required by the 37
Constitution; and the resolution may fix the date and direct the 38
calling of elections for the purposes hereof. 39
(3) The people reserve unto themselves the power to propose 40
and enact constitutional amendments by initiative. An initiative 41
to amend the Constitution may be proposed by a petition signed 42
over a twelve-month period by qualified electors equal in number 43
to at least twelve percent (12%) of the votes for all candidates 44
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for Governor in the last gubernatorial election. The signatures 45
of the qualified electors from any congressional district shall 46
not exceed * * * the total number of signatures required to 47
qualify an initiative petition for placement upon the ballot 48
divided by the number of congressional districts in existence on 49
the day the petition is filed according to the most recent federal 50
decennial census. If an initiative petition contains signatures 51
from a single congressional district which exceed * * * the total 52
number of required signatures, the excess number of signatures 53
from that congressional district shall not be considered by the 54
Secretary of State in determining whether the petition qualifies 55
for placement on the ballot. 56
(4) The sponsor of an initiative shall identify in the text 57
of the initiative the amount and source of revenue required to 58
implement the initiative. If the initiative requires a reduction 59
in any source of government revenue, or a reallocation of funding 60
from currently funded programs, the sponsor shall identify in the 61
text of the initiative the program or programs whose funding must 62
be reduced or eliminated to implement the initiative. Compliance 63
with this requirement shall not be a violation of the subject 64
matter requirements of this section of the Constitution. 65
(5) The initiative process shall not be used: 66
(a) For the proposal, modification or repeal of any 67
portion of the Bill of Rights of this Constitution; 68
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(b) To amend or repeal any law or any provision of the 69
Constitution relating to the Mississippi Public Employees' 70
Retirement System; 71
(c) To amend or repeal the constitutional guarantee 72
that the right of any person to work shall not be denied or 73
abridged on account of membership or nonmembership in any labor 74
union or organization; or 75
(d) To modify the initiative process for proposing 76
amendments to this Constitution. 77
(6) The Secretary of State shall file with the Clerk of the 78
House and the Secretary of the Senate the complete text of the 79
certified initiative on the first day of the regular session. A 80
constitutional initiative may be adopted by a majority vote of 81
each house of the Legislature. If the initiative is adopted, 82
amended or rejected by the Legislature; or if no action is taken 83
within four (4) months of the date that the initiative is filed 84
with the Legislature, the Secretary of State shall place the 85
initiative on the ballot for the next statewide general election. 86
The chief legislative budget officer shall prepare a fiscal 87
analysis of each initiative and each legislative alternative. A 88
summary of each fiscal analysis shall appear on the ballot. 89
(7) If the Legislature amends an initiative, the amended 90
version and the original initiative shall be submitted to the 91
electors. An initiative or legislative alternative must receive a 92
majority of the votes thereon and not less than forty percent 93
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(40%) of the total votes cast at the election at which the measure 94
was submitted to be approved. If conflicting initiatives or 95
legislative alternatives are approved at the same election, the 96
initiative or legislative alternative receiving the highest number 97
of affirmative votes shall prevail. 98
(8) If an initiative measure proposed to the Legislature has 99
been rejected by the Legislature and an alternative measure is 100
passed by the Legislature in lieu thereof, the ballot titles of 101
both such measures shall be so printed on the official ballots 102
that a voter can express separately two (2) preferences: first, 103
by voting for the approval of either measure or against both 104
measures, and, secondly, by voting for one (1) measure or the 105
other measure. If the majority of those voting on the first issue 106
is against both measures, then both measures fail, but in that 107
case the votes on the second issue nevertheless shall be carefully 108
counted and made public. If a majority voting on the first issue 109
is for the approval of either measure, then the measure receiving 110
a majority of the votes on the second issue and also receiving not 111
less than forty percent (40%) of the total votes cast at the 112
election at which the measure was submitted for approval shall be 113
law. Any person who votes for the ratification of either measure 114
on the first issue must vote for one (l) of the measures on the 115
second issue in order for the ballot to be valid. Any person who 116
votes against both measures on the first issue may vote but shall 117
not be required to vote for any of the measures on the second 118
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issue in order for the ballot to be valid. Substantially, the 119
following form shall be * * * in compliance with this subsection: 120
INITIATED BY PETITION AND ALTERNATIVE BY LEGISLATURE 121
Initiative Measure No. __________, entitled (here insert the 122
ballot title of the initiative measure). 123
Alternative Measure No. __________ A, entitled (here insert 124
the ballot title of the alternative measure). 125
VOTE FOR APPROVAL OF EITHER, OR AGAINST BOTH: 126
FOR APPROVAL OF EITHER Initiative No. ____ 127
OR Alternative No. ____ A ............................. ( ) 128
AGAINST Both Initiative No. ____ 129
AND Alternative No. ____ A ............................ ( ) 130
AND VOTE FOR ONE 131
FOR Initiative Measure No. ____ ....................... ( ) 132
FOR Alternative Measure No. ____ A..................... ( ) 133
(9) No more than five (5) initiative proposals shall be 134
submitted to the voters on a single ballot, and the first five (5) 135
initiative proposals submitted to the Secretary of State with 136
sufficient petitions shall be the proposals which are submitted to 137
the voters. The sufficiency of petitions shall be decided in the 138
first instance by the Secretary of State, subject to review by the 139
Supreme Court of the state, which shall have original and 140
exclusive jurisdiction over all such cases. 141
(10) An initiative approved by the electors shall take 142
effect thirty (30) days from the date of the official declaration 143
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of the vote by the Secretary of State, unless the measure provides 144
otherwise. 145
(11) If any amendment to the Constitution proposed by 146
initiative petition is rejected by a majority of the qualified 147
electors voting thereon, no initiative petition proposing the 148
same, or substantially the same, amendment shall be submitted to 149
the electors for at least two (2) years after the date of the 150
election on such amendment. 151
(12) The Legislature shall provide by law the manner in 152
which initiative petitions shall be circulated, presented and 153
certified. To prevent signature fraud and to maintain the 154
integrity of the initiative process the state has a compelling 155
interest in insuring that no person shall circulate an initiative 156
petition or obtain signatures on an initiative petition unless the 157
person is a resident of this state at the time of circulation. 158
For the purposes of this subsection the term "resident" means a 159
person who is domiciled in Mississippi as evidenced by an intent 160
to maintain a principal dwelling place in Mississippi indefinitely 161
and to return to Mississippi if temporarily absent, coupled with 162
an act or acts consistent with that intent. Every person who 163
circulates an initiative petition shall print and sign his name on 164
each page of an initiative petition, or on a separate page 165
attached to each page, certifying that he was a resident of this 166
state at the time of circulating the petition. The Secretary of 167
State shall refuse to accept for filing any page of an initiative 168
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ST: Constitution; conform initiative signature
requirements from each congressional district
for an initiative petition to the number of
current districts.
petition upon which the signatures appearing thereon were obtained 169
by a person who was not a resident of this state at the time of 170
circulating the petition, and an initiative measure shall not be 171
placed on the ballot if the Secretary of State determines that 172
without such signatures the petition clearly bears an insufficient 173
number of signatures. The provisions of this subsection (12) 174
shall be applicable to all initiative measures that have not been 175
placed on the ballot at the time this proposed amendment is 176
ratified by the electorate. 177
(13) The Legislature may enact laws to carry out the 178
provisions of this section but shall in no way restrict or impair 179
the provisions of this section or the powers herein reserved to 180
the people. 181
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this proposed amendment shall be 182
submitted by the Secretary of State to the qualified electors at 183
an election to be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday 184
of November 2026, as provided by Section 273 of the Constitution 185
and by general law. 186
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the explanation of this proposed 187
amendment for the ballot shall read as follows: "This proposed 188
amendment conforms the pro rata signature requirements of 189
congressional districts for initiative petitions to the current 190
number of congressional districts." 191