Initiative measure; create procedures for qualified elector to propose amendment to the Mississippi Code of 1972.

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To: Elections
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Senator(s) Blount

SENATE BILL NO. 2920

AN ACT TO PROVIDE PROCEDURES BY WHICH QUALIFIED ELECTORS OF 1
THIS STATE MAY INITIATE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE MISSISSIPPI 2
CODE OF 1972, TO BE APPROVED BY THE ELECTORATE AT THE NEXT 3
STATEWIDE GENERAL ELECTION; TO PROVIDE FOR THE MANNER AND TIME FOR 4
FILING INITIATIVE PETITIONS WITH THE SECRETARY OF STATE; TO 5
PRESCRIBE THE DUTIES AND POWERS OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE WITH 6
REGARD TO RECEIVING, FILING AND CERTIFYING INITIATIVE MEASURES AND 7
PETITIONS; TO PRESCRIBE THE FORM OF INITIATIVE PETITIONS AND THE 8
FORM OF SUCH MEASURES FOR THE BALLOTS; TO AUTHORIZE APPEALS FROM 9
ADVERSE FINDINGS OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE REGARDING INITIATIVE 10
MEASURES AND PETITIONS; TO PROVIDE CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR CERTAIN 11
CONDUCT PRESCRIBED AS UNLAWFUL UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; 12
AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 13
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 14
SECTION 1. (1) For purposes of this chapter, the following 15
term shall have the meaning ascribed herein: 16
"Measure" means an amendment to the General Laws of 17
Mississippi to be codified in the Mississippi Code of 1972, 18
proposed by a petition of qualified electors. 19
(2) If any qualified elector of the state desires to 20
initiate a proposed amendment to the general laws of this state, 21
the qualified elector shall first file with the Secretary of State 22
a typewritten copy of the proposed initiative measure, accompanied 23
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by an affidavit that the sponsor is a qualified elector of this 24
state. 25
(3) The sponsor of an initiative shall identify in the text 26
of the initiative the amount and source of revenue required to 27
implement the initiative. If the initiative requires a reduction 28
in any source of government revenue, or a reallocation of funding 29
from currently funded programs, the sponsor shall identify in the 30
text of the initiative the program or programs whose funding must 31
be reduced or eliminated to implement the initiative. 32
(4) The initiative process shall not be used: 33
(a) For the proposal to amend or repeal any portion of 34
the ballot initiative process; or 35
(b) To amend or repeal any law relating to the 36
Mississippi Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS). 37
SECTION 2. A petition is valid for a period of twelve (12) 38
months. 39
SECTION 3. Upon receipt of any proposed initiative measure, 40
the Secretary of State shall submit a copy of the proposed measure 41
to the Attorney General and give notice to the person filing the 42
proposed measure of such transmittal. Upon receipt of the 43
measure, the Attorney General may confer with the person filing 44
the proposed measure and shall within ten (10) working days from 45
receipt thereof review the proposal for matters of form and style, 46
and such matters of substantive import as may be agreeable to the 47
person filing the proposed measure, and shall recommend such 48
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revision or alteration of the measure as may be deemed necessary 49
and appropriate. The recommendations of the Attorney General 50
shall be advisory only, and the person filing the proposed measure 51
may accept or reject them in whole or in part. The Attorney 52
General shall issue a certificate of review certifying that he or 53
she has reviewed the measure for form and style and that the 54
recommendations thereon, if any, have been communicated to the 55
person filing the proposed measure, and such certificate shall 56
issue whether or not the person filing the proposed measure 57
accepts such recommendations. Within fifteen (15) working days 58
after notification of submittal of the proposed initiative measure 59
to the Attorney General, the person filing the proposed measure, 60
if he or she desires to proceed with his or her sponsorship, shall 61
file the measure together with the certificate of review with the 62
Secretary of State for assignment of a serial number and the 63
Secretary of State shall thereupon submit to the Attorney General 64
a certified copy of the measure filed. Upon submitting the 65
proposal to the Secretary of State for assignment of a serial 66
number, the Secretary of State shall refuse to make such 67
assignment unless the proposal is accompanied by a certificate of 68
review. 69
SECTION 4. The Secretary of State shall give a serial number 70
to each initiative measure, and forthwith transmit one (1) copy of 71
the measure proposed bearing its serial number to the Attorney 72
General. Thereafter, a measure shall be known and designated on 73
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all petitions, ballots and proceedings as "Initiative Measure No. 74
____." 75
SECTION 5. When an amendment to the Mississippi Code of 1972 76
is proposed to the qualified electors of the state under this 77
chapter, the Secretary of State, with the approval of the Attorney 78
General, may make a nonsubstantive clerical or technical 79
correction in the section number reference or designation of the 80
proposed amendment contained in an initiative measure, as may be 81
appropriate or necessary in order to prevent the use of an 82
existing section number or the possibility of the initiative being 83
declared invalid only because of an error in the section number 84
designation. Such a correction may be made at any time after the 85
Attorney General's certificate of review, with regard to the 86
initiative measure has been issued, and before the ballot for the 87
initiative measure, is printed. The provisions of this section do 88
not authorize the Secretary of State to make any change other than 89
a nonsubstantive correction in the section number reference or 90
designation of the proposed amendment contained in the initiative 91
measure. 92
SECTION 6. Within seven (7) calendar days after the receipt 93
of an initiative measure, the Attorney General shall formulate and 94
transmit to the Secretary of State a concise statement posed as a 95
question and not to exceed twenty (20) words, bearing the serial 96
number of the measure and a summary of the measure, not to exceed 97
seventy-five (75) words, to follow the statement. The statement 98
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shall give a true and impartial statement of the purpose of the 99
measure. Neither the statement nor the summary may intentionally 100
be an argument, nor likely to create prejudice, either for or 101
against the measure. Such concise statement shall constitute the 102
ballot title. The ballot title formulated by the Attorney General 103
shall be the ballot title of the measure unless changed on appeal. 104
When practicable, the question posed by the ballot title shall be 105
written in such a way that an affirmative answer to such question 106
and an affirmative vote on the measure would result in a change in 107
then current law, and a negative answer to the question and a 108
negative vote on the measure would result in no change to then 109
current law. 110
SECTION 7. Upon the filing of the ballot title and summary 111
for an initiative measure in his or her office, the Secretary of 112
State shall forthwith notify by certified mail return receipt 113
requested, the person proposing the measure and any other 114
individuals who have made written requests for such notification 115
of the exact language of the ballot title. The Secretary of State 116
shall publish the title and summary for an initiative measure 117
within ten (10) days after filing such title and summary in a 118
newspaper or newspapers of general circulation throughout the 119
State of Mississippi and on the Secretary of State's website. 120
SECTION 8. If any person is dissatisfied with the ballot 121
title or summary formulated by the Attorney General, he or she 122
may, within five (5) days from the publications of the ballot 123
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title and summary by the Office of the Secretary of State, appeal 124
to the Circuit Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds 125
County, Mississippi, by petition setting forth the measure, the 126
title or summary formulated by the Attorney General, and his or 127
her objections to the ballot title or summary and requesting 128
amendment of the title or summary by the court. 129
A copy of the petition on appeal together with a notice that 130
an appeal has been taken shall be served upon the Secretary of 131
State, upon the Attorney General and upon the person proposing the 132
measure if the appeal is initiated by someone other than that 133
person. Upon the filing of the petition on appeal or at the time 134
to which the hearing may be adjourned by consent of the appellant, 135
the court shall accord first priority to examining the proposed 136
measure, the title or summary prepared by the Attorney General and 137
the objections to that title or summary. The court may hear 138
arguments, and, within ten (10) days, shall render its decision 139
and file with the Secretary of State a certified copy of such 140
ballot title or summary as it determines will meet the 141
requirements of Section 6 of this act. 142
SECTION 9. When the ballot title and summary are finally 143
established, the Secretary of State shall file the instrument 144
establishing it with the proposed measure and transmit a copy 145
thereof by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the person 146
proposing the measure and to any other individuals who have made a 147
written request for such notification. Thereafter, such ballot 148
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title shall be the title of the measure in all petitions, ballots 149
and other proceedings in relation thereto. The summary shall 150
appear on all petitions directly following the ballot title. 151
SECTION 10. (1) The person proposing an initiative measure 152
shall print blank petitions upon single sheets of paper. Each 153
sheet shall have a full, true and correct copy of the proposed 154
measure referred to therein printed on the reverse side of the 155
petition or attached thereto. 156
(2) Only a person who is a qualified elector of this state 157
may circulate a petition or obtain signatures on a petition. 158
SECTION 11. The Secretary of State shall design the form of 159
each sheet of which shall contain the following: 160
"WARNING 161
EVERY PERSON WHO SIGNS THIS PETITION WITH ANY NAME OTHER THAN 162
HIS OR HER TRUE NAME, KNOWINGLY SIGNS MORE THAN ONE (1) OF THESE 163
PETITIONS RELATING TO THE SAME INITIATIVE MEASURE, SIGNS THIS 164
PETITION WHEN HE OR SHE IS NOT A QUALIFIED ELECTOR OR MAKES ANY 165
FALSE STATEMENT ON THIS PETITION MAY BE PUNISHED BY FINE, 166
IMPRISONMENT OR BOTH." 167
PETITION FOR INITIATIVE MEASURE 168
To the Honorable ___________________, Secretary of State of 169
the State of Mississippi: 170
We, the undersigned citizens and qualified electors of the 171
State of Mississippi, respectfully direct that this petition and 172
the proposed measure known as Initiative Measure No. ____, 173
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entitled (here insert the established ballot title of the 174
measure), a full, true and correct copy of which is printed or 175
attached on the reverse side of this petition, be submitted to 176
the electors during the next statewide election; and each of us 177
for himself or herself says: I have personally signed this 178
petition; I am a qualified elector of the State of Mississippi in 179
the city (or town), county and Supreme Court district written 180
after my name; my residence address is correctly stated and I have 181
knowingly signed this petition only once." 182
Each sheet shall also provide adequate space for the 183
following information: Petitioner's signature; print name for 184
positive identification; residence address, street and number, if 185
any; city or town; county; and Supreme Court district. 186
SECTION 12. The Secretary of State shall certify the 187
signatures of qualified electors of that county and shall state 188
the total number of qualified electors signing the petition. The 189
Secretary of State may not receive any fee, salary or compensation 190
from any private person or private legal entity for the clerk's 191
duties in certifying an initiative petition. The person proposing 192
any initiative measure must secure upon the petition a number of 193
signatures of qualified electors equal to or exceeding at least 194
twelve percent (12%) of the votes for all candidates for Governor 195
in the last gubernatorial election, with at least one-third (1/3) 196
of the minimum number of required signatures coming from qualified 197
electors from each of the three (3) Supreme Court districts within 198
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the State of Mississippi as defined at the effective date of this 199
act. The Secretary of State shall collect a fee of Five Hundred 200
Dollars ($500.00) from the person filing the petition to pay part 201
of the administrative and publication costs. 202
SECTION 13. The Secretary of State shall refuse to file any 203
initiative petition being submitted upon any of the following 204
grounds: 205
(a) That the petition is not substantially in the form 206
required by Section 11 of this act; 207
(b) That the petition clearly bears insufficient 208
signatures; 209
(c) That a number of signatures that appear on the 210
petition were obtained in violation of Section 10, Section 25 or 211
Section 26 of this act, to the extent that the number of qualified 212
signatures no longer meets the signature requirements of this act; 213
(d) That the petition is not accompanied by the filing 214
fee provided for in Section 12 of this act; or 215
(e) That the petition is submitted less than ninety 216
(90) days before a statewide general election. 217
If an otherwise sufficient petition is submitted less than 218
ninety (90) days before a statewide general election, the 219
Secretary of State shall retain the petition and shall place the 220
initiative measure on the ballot for the next statewide general 221
election occurring after the upcoming statewide general election. 222
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In case of such refusal, the Secretary of State shall endorse 223
on the petition the word "submitted" and the date, and retain the 224
petition pending appeal. 225
If none of the grounds for refusal exists, the Secretary of 226
State shall accept and file the petition. 227
SECTION 14. If the Secretary of State refuses to file an 228
initiative petition when submitted to him or her for filing, the 229
person submitting it for filing, within ten (10) days after his or 230
her refusal, may apply to the Supreme Court for an order requiring 231
the Secretary of State to bring the petition before the court and 232
for a writ of mandamus to compel him or her to file it. The 233
application shall be considered an emergency matter of public 234
concern and shall be heard and determined with all convenient 235
speed. If the Supreme Court decides that the petition is legal in 236
form, apparently contains the requisite number of signatures of 237
qualified electors, was filed within the time prescribed in the 238
Constitution and was accompanied with the proper filing fee, it 239
shall issue its mandate directing the Secretary of State to file 240
the petition in his or her office as of the date of submission. 241
SECTION 15. Each measure submitted to the people for 242
approval or rejection shall be so printed on the ballot, under the 243
proper heading, that a voter can, by making one (1) choice, 244
express his or her approval or rejection of such measure. 245
Substantially the following form shall be in compliance with this 246
section: 247
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INITIATIVE MEASURE NO. ______ 248
(Here insert the ballot title of the measure.) 249
YES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( ) 250
NO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ( ) 251
SECTION 16. No more than five (5) initiative proposals shall 252
be submitted to the voters on a single ballot, and the first five 253
(5) initiative proposals submitted to the Secretary of State with 254
sufficient petitions shall be the proposals which are submitted to 255
the voters. The Secretary of State shall retain any otherwise 256
sufficient petitions beyond five (5) and shall place them, in the 257
chronological order in which they were submitted, on the ballot 258
for the next statewide general election occurring after the 259
upcoming statewide general election. 260
SECTION 17. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of 261
this section, an initiative shall require a majority vote of the 262
people in favor of the initiative to be effective. 263
(2) If the initiative modifies, adds, deletes or repeals any 264
statutory language providing for the levying of taxes or exemption 265
of property from state taxes or taxes of any subdivision thereof, 266
or imposing the issuance of licenses, or requiring the borrowing 267
of money, issuing of bonds, notes or other evidence of debt, then 268
the initiative shall require a three-fifths (3/5) vote of the 269
people in favor of the initiative to be successful. Determination 270
concerning the requisite passage rate for each initiative shall be 271
made by the Attorney General. Petitioners that disagree with the 272
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requisite passage rate determination made by the Attorney General 273
may file an appeal, within five (5) days of publication of the 274
requisite passage determination, to the Circuit Court of the First 275
Judicial District of Hinds County, Mississippi. The petition 276
shall set forth the measure, title and summary of the initiative, 277
and his or her objection to the requisite passage rate as 278
determined by the Attorney General. A copy of the petition on 279
appeal together with a notice that an appeal has been taken shall 280
be served upon the Secretary of State, upon the Attorney General 281
and upon the person proposing the measure if the appeal is 282
initiated by someone other than that person. Upon the filing of 283
the petition on appeal or at the time to which the hearing may be 284
adjourned by consent of the appellant, the court shall accord 285
first priority to examining the proposed measure, the requisite 286
passage rate determined by the Attorney General and the objections 287
to that passage rate. The court may hear arguments, and, within 288
ten (10) days, shall render its decision. 289
(3) An initiative approved by the electors shall take effect 290
thirty (30) days from the date of the official declaration of the 291
vote by the Secretary of State, unless the measure provides 292
otherwise. 293
SECTION 18. (1) If any amendment measure proposed by 294
initiative petition under this act is rejected by the qualified 295
electors voting thereon, no initiative petition proposing the 296
same, or substantially the same, amendment shall be submitted to 297
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the electors for at least two (2) years after the date of the 298
election. 299
(2) No initiative approved by the electors may be amended by 300
the Legislature for four (4) years after the date of the election 301
on such amendment without a three-fourths (3/4) vote of both 302
houses of the Legislature. 303
SECTION 19. (1) A pamphlet containing a copy of all 304
initiative measures, including the ballot title and ballot 305
summary, arguments or explanations for and against each measure 306
and alternative and the fiscal analysis prepared by the Chief 307
Legislative Budget Officer shall be compiled by the Secretary of 308
State. The sponsor may prepare the argument or explanation on the 309
measure. If the sponsor does not prepare the argument or 310
explanation, then the Secretary of State shall do so. Each 311
argument or explanation shall not exceed three hundred (300) 312
words. The Secretary of State shall publish the ballot title, 313
ballot summary, full text of each measure and arguments or 314
explanations for and against each measure and alternative once a 315
week for three (3) consecutive weeks immediately preceding the 316
election in at least one (1) newspaper of general circulation in 317
each county of the state. The costs of such printing and 318
publication shall be borne by the Secretary of State from funds 319
appropriated by the Legislature. 320
(2) The Secretary of State shall conduct at least one (1) 321
public hearing in each Supreme Court district on each measure to 322
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be placed on the ballot and shall give public notice thereof at 323
least thirty (30) days before a hearing. 324
SECTION 20. For the purposes of Sections 21 through 27 of 325
this act, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed to 326
them in this section: 327
(a) "Contribution" means any gift, subscription, loan, 328
advance, money or anything of value made by a person or political 329
committee for the purpose of influencing the passage or defeat of 330
a measure on the ballot, for the purpose of obtaining signatures 331
for the proposed ballot measures and attempting to place the 332
proposed measure on the ballot, and for the purpose of opposing 333
efforts to place a proposed measure on the ballot; but does not 334
include noncompensated, nonreimbursed volunteer personal services. 335
(b) "Person" means any individual, family, firm, 336
corporation, partnership, association or other legal entity. 337
(c) "Political committee" means any person, other than 338
an individual, who receives contributions or makes expenditures 339
for the purpose of influencing the passage or defeat of a measure 340
on the ballot. 341
(d) "Expenditure" means any purchase, payment, 342
distribution, loan, advance, deposit, gift of money or anything of 343
value, made by any person or political committee for the purpose 344
of influencing any balloted measure, for the purpose of obtaining 345
signatures for a proposed ballot measure and attempting to place 346
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the proposed measure on the ballot, and for the purpose of 347
opposing efforts to place a proposed measure on the ballot. 348
SECTION 21. (1) Each political committee shall file with 349
the Secretary of State a statement of organization no later than 350
ten (10) days after receipt of contributions aggregating in excess 351
of Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00), or no later than ten (10) days 352
after having made expenditures aggregating in excess of Two 353
Hundred Dollars ($200.00). 354
(2) The statement of organization of a political committee 355
must include: 356
(a) The name and address of the committee and all 357
officers; 358
(b) Designation of a director of the committee and a 359
custodian of books and accounts of the committee, who shall be 360
designated treasurer; and 361
(c) A brief statement identifying the measure that the 362
committee seeks to pass or defeat. 363
Any change in information previously submitted in a statement 364
of organization shall be reported and filed within ten (10) days. 365
SECTION 22. (1) A political committee that either receives 366
contributions or makes expenditures in excess of Two Hundred 367
Dollars ($200.00) shall file financial reports with the Secretary 368
of State. 369
(2) An individual person who on his or her own behalf 370
expends in excess of Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) for the purpose 371
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of influencing the passage or defeat of a measure shall file 372
financial reports with the Secretary of State. 373
(3) The financial reports required in this section shall be 374
filed monthly, not later than the tenth day of the month following 375
the month being reported, after a political committee or an 376
individual exceeds the contribution or expenditure limits. 377
Financial reports must continue to be filed until all 378
contributions and expenditures cease. In all cases a financial 379
report shall be filed thirty (30) days following the election on a 380
measure. 381
(4) Any person who violates the provisions of this section, 382
shall be subject to a fine as provided in Section 23-15-813. 383
SECTION 23. A financial report of a political committee, or 384
an individual person, as required by Section 22 of this act, shall 385
contain the following information: 386
(a) The name, address and telephone number of the 387
committee or individual person filing the statement. 388
(b) For a political committee: 389
(i) The total amount of contributions received 390
during the period covered by the financial report; 391
(ii) The total amount of expenditures made during 392
the period covered by the financial report; 393
(iii) The cumulative amount of those totals for 394
each measure; 395
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(iv) The balance of cash and cash equivalents on 396
hand at the beginning and the end of the period covered by the 397
financial report; 398
(v) The total amount of contributions received 399
during the period covered by the financial report from persons who 400
contributed Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) or less, and the 401
cumulative amount of that total for each measure; 402
(vi) The total amount of contributions received 403
during the period covered by the financial report from persons who 404
contributed Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) or more, and the 405
cumulative amount of that total for each measure; and 406
(vii) The name and street address of each person 407
from whom a contribution(s) exceeding Two Hundred Dollars 408
($200.00) was received during the period covered by the financial 409
report, together with the amount contributed, the date of receipt, 410
and the cumulative amount contributed by that person for each 411
measure. 412
(c) For an individual person: 413
(i) The total amount of expenditures made during 414
the period covered by the financial report; 415
(ii) The cumulative amount of that total for each 416
measure; 417
(iii) The name and street address of each person 418
to whom expenditures totaling Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) or 419
more were made, together with the amount of each separate 420
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expenditure to each person during the period covered by the 421
financial report and the purpose of the expenditure; and 422
(iv) The total amount of contributions received 423
during the period covered by the financial report, the cumulative 424
amount of that total for each measure and the name and street 425
address of each person who contributed more than Two Hundred 426
Dollars ($200.00) and the amount contributed. 427
SECTION 24. It is unlawful for any person to distribute or 428
post material in support of, or in opposition to, a measure within 429
one hundred fifty (150) feet of any entrance to a polling place 430
where an election is held. 431
SECTION 25. (1) It is unlawful for a person to give or 432
offer any consideration to an elector to induce the elector to 433
vote for or against a measure. 434
(2) It is unlawful for a person to give or offer any 435
consideration to an elector to induce the elector to sign or not 436
sign a petition for a measure. 437
(3) It is unlawful for any person who pays or compensates 438
another person for circulating a petition or for obtaining 439
signatures on a petition to base the pay or compensation on the 440
number of petitions circulated or the number of signatures 441
obtained. 442
(4) It is unlawful for any person to solicit signatures on 443
any petition under this chapter within one hundred fifty (150) 444
feet of any polling place on any election day. 445
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(5) It is unlawful for any person who circulates or causes 446
to be circulated an initiative petition to obtain, or attempt to 447
obtain, a person's signature (a) by intentionally misleading such 448
person as to the substance or effect of the petition, or (b) by 449
intentionally causing such person to be misled as to the substance 450
or effect of the petition. 451
SECTION 26. It is unlawful for a person to interfere with or 452
influence the vote of an elector on a measure by means of 453
violence, threats, intimidation, enforcing the payment of a debt, 454
bringing a suit or criminal prosecution, any threat or action 455
affecting a person's conditions of employment or other corrupt 456
means. 457
SECTION 27. Any person who alleges that his or her signature 458
on an initiative petition was obtained as the result of fraud or 459
coercion, or that the person was intentionally misled as to the 460
substance or effect of the petition, may have his or her signature 461
removed from the initiative petition upon filing an affidavit to 462
such effect with the Secretary of State anytime before the 463
Secretary of State has accepted and filed the petition under 464
Section 13 of this act. 465
SECTION 28. Any violation of Sections 21 through 27 of this 466
act is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not more 467
than one (1) year, or by a fine not to exceed One Thousand Dollars 468
($1,000.00), or by both such fine and imprisonment. 469
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ST: Initiative measure; create procedures for
qualified elector to propose amendment to the
Mississippi Code of 1972.
SECTION 29. This act shall take effect and be in force from 470
and after the date Senate Concurrent Resolution No. ___, 2026 471
Regular Session, proposing an amendment to Section 33 of the 472
Mississippi Constitution of 1890, is approved by the voters. 473