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