Constitution; signatures from any congressional district cannot exceed fractional portion of number of signatures required for initiative petition.

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To: Constitution
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Arnold

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 3

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO SECTION 1
273, MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, TO PROVIDE THAT TO QUALIFY 2
AN INITIATIVE PETITION FOR PLACEMENT UPON THE BALLOT, SIGNATURES 3
OF THE QUALIFIED ELECTORS FROM ANY CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT SHALL 4
NOT EXCEED A CERTAIN FRACTIONAL PORTION OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF 5
SIGNATURES REQUIRED. 6
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF 7
MISSISSIPPI, That the following amendment to the Mississippi 8
Constitution of 1890 is proposed to the qualified electors of the 9
state: 10
Amend Section 273, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read 11
as follows: 12
"Section 273. (1) Amendments to this Constitution may be 13
proposed by the Legislature or by initiative of the people. 14
(2) Whenever two-thirds (2/3) of each house of the 15
Legislature, which two-thirds (2/3) shall consist of not less than 16
a majority of the members elected to each house, shall deem any 17
change, alteration or amendment necessary to this Constitution, 18
such proposed amendment, change or alteration shall be read and 19
passed by two-thirds (2/3) vote of each house, as herein provided; 20
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public notice shall then be given by the Secretary of State at 21
least thirty (30) days preceding an election, at which the 22
qualified electors shall vote directly for or against such change, 23
alteration or amendment, and if more than one (1) amendment shall 24
be submitted at one (1) time, they shall be submitted in such 25
manner and form that the people may vote for or against each 26
amendment separately; and, notwithstanding the division of the 27
Constitution into sections, the Legislature may provide in its 28
resolution for one or more amendments pertaining and relating to 29
the same subject or subject matter, and may provide for one or 30
more amendments to an article of the Constitution pertaining and 31
relating to the same subject or subject matter, which may be 32
included in and voted on as one (1) amendment; and if it shall 33
appear that a majority of the qualified electors voting directly 34
for or against the same shall have voted for the proposed change, 35
alteration or amendment, then it shall be inserted as a part of 36
the Constitution by proclamation of the Secretary of State 37
certifying that it received the majority vote required by the 38
Constitution; and the resolution may fix the date and direct the 39
calling of elections for the purposes hereof. 40
(3) The people reserve unto themselves the power to propose 41
and enact constitutional amendments by initiative. An initiative 42
to amend the Constitution may be proposed by a petition signed 43
over a twelve-month period by qualified electors equal in number 44
to at least twelve percent (12%) of the votes for all candidates 45
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for Governor in the last gubernatorial election. The signatures 46
of the qualified electors from any congressional district shall 47
not exceed * * * the following portion of the total * * * 48
signatures required to qualify an initiative petition for 49
placement upon the ballot: the portion shall be a fraction with a 50
numerator of one (1) and a denominator equal to the total number 51
of congressional districts statewide. If an initiative petition 52
contains signatures from a single congressional district which 53
exceed * * * the portion of the total * * * required signatures 54
specified in the preceding sentence, the excess number of 55
signatures from that congressional district shall not be 56
considered by the Secretary of State in determining whether the 57
petition qualifies for placement on the ballot. 58
(4) The sponsor of an initiative shall identify in the text 59
of the initiative the amount and source of revenue required to 60
implement the initiative. If the initiative requires a reduction 61
in any source of government revenue, or a reallocation of funding 62
from currently funded programs, the sponsor shall identify in the 63
text of the initiative the program or programs whose funding must 64
be reduced or eliminated to implement the initiative. Compliance 65
with this requirement shall not be a violation of the subject 66
matter requirements of this section of the Constitution. 67
(5) The initiative process shall not be used: 68
(a) For the proposal, modification or repeal of any 69
portion of the Bill of Rights of this Constitution; 70
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(b) To amend or repeal any law or any provision of the 71
Constitution relating to the Mississippi Public Employees' 72
Retirement System; 73
(c) To amend or repeal the constitutional guarantee 74
that the right of any person to work shall not be denied or 75
abridged on account of membership or nonmembership in any labor 76
union or organization; or 77
(d) To modify the initiative process for proposing 78
amendments to this Constitution. 79
(6) The Secretary of State shall file with the Clerk of the 80
House and the Secretary of the Senate the complete text of the 81
certified initiative on the first day of the regular session. A 82
constitutional initiative may be adopted by a majority vote of 83
each house of the Legislature. If the initiative is adopted, 84
amended or rejected by the Legislature; or if no action is taken 85
within four (4) months of the date that the initiative is filed 86
with the Legislature, the Secretary of State shall place the 87
initiative on the ballot for the next statewide general election. 88
The chief legislative budget officer shall prepare a fiscal 89
analysis of each initiative and each legislative alternative. A 90
summary of each fiscal analysis shall appear on the ballot. 91
(7) If the Legislature amends an initiative, the amended 92
version and the original initiative shall be submitted to the 93
electors. An initiative or legislative alternative must receive a 94
majority of the votes thereon and not less than forty percent 95
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(40%) of the total votes cast at the election at which the measure 96
was submitted to be approved. If conflicting initiatives or 97
legislative alternatives are approved at the same election, the 98
initiative or legislative alternative receiving the highest number 99
of affirmative votes shall prevail. 100
(8) If an initiative measure proposed to the Legislature has 101
been rejected by the Legislature and an alternative measure is 102
passed by the Legislature in lieu thereof, the ballot titles of 103
both such measures shall be so printed on the official ballots 104
that a voter can express separately two (2) preferences: First, 105
by voting for the approval of either measure or against both 106
measures, and, secondly, by voting for one measure or the other 107
measure. If the majority of those voting on the first issue is 108
against both measures, then both measures fail, but in that case 109
the votes on the second issue nevertheless shall be carefully 110
counted and made public. If a majority voting on the first issue 111
is for the approval of either measure, then the measure receiving 112
a majority of the votes on the second issue and also receiving not 113
less than forty percent (40%) of the total votes cast at the 114
election at which the measure was submitted for approval shall be 115
law. Any person who votes for the ratification of either measure 116
on the first issue must vote for one (l) of the measures on the 117
second issue in order for the ballot to be valid. Any person who 118
votes against both measures on the first issue may vote but shall 119
not be required to vote for any of the measures on the second 120
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issue in order for the ballot to be valid. Substantially the 121
following form shall be a compliance with this subsection: 122
INITIATED BY PETITION AND ALTERNATIVE BY LEGISLATURE 123
Initiative Measure No. __________, entitled (here insert the 124
ballot title of the initiative measure). Alternative Measure No. 125
__________ A, entitled (here insert the ballot title of the 126
alternative measure). VOTE FOR APPROVAL OF EITHER, OR AGAINST 127
BOTH: FOR APPROVAL OF EITHER Initiative No. ____ OR Alternative 128
No. ____ A ..................................... ( ) AGAINST 129
Both Initiative No. ____ AND Alternative No. ____ A 130
.................................... ( ) AND VOTE FOR ONE FOR 131
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
of the vote by the Secretary of State, unless the measure provides 144
otherwise. 145
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(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
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
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ST: Constitution; signatures from any
congressional district cannot exceed fractional
portion of number of signatures required for
initiative petition.
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
constitutional amendment provides that signatures of the qualified 189
electors from any congressional district shall not exceed 190
one-fourth (1/4) of the total number of signatures required to 191
qualify an initiative petition for placement upon the ballot." 192