Constitution; amend Section 273 to reinstate initiative process and revise initiative signature requirements.

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To: Elections
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Senator(s) Seymour

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 515

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO SECTION 1
273, MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, TO REINSTATE THE INITIATIVE 2
PROCEDURE DECLARED INVALID BY THE MISSISSIPPI SUPREME COURT; TO 3
PROVIDE THAT THE INITIATIVE PROCESS MAY BE USED TO AMEND THE 4
MISSISSIPPI STATUTES OR TO AMEND THE MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION; TO 5
BASE THE NUMBER OF SIGNATURES REQUIRED FOR AN INITIATIVE PETITION 6
ON THE NUMBER OF REGISTERED VOTERS; TO CONFORM THE PRO RATA 7
SIGNATURE REQUIREMENTS FROM EACH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT FOR AN 8
INITIATIVE PETITION TO THE NUMBER OF CURRENT CONGRESSIONAL 9
DISTRICTS; TO SPECIFY THAT PETITION SIGNATURE REQUIREMENTS SHALL 10
INCLUDE HOME ADDRESS; AND TO PROVIDE THAT ONLY ONE PROPOSAL OF LAW 11
AND MATTERS PROPERLY CONNECTED THEREWITH SHALL BE CONTAINED IN AN 12
INITIATIVE PETITION TO ENABLE THE ELECTORS TO VOTE ON THAT 13
PROPOSAL SEPARATELY. 14
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF 15
MISSISSIPPI, That the following amendment to the Mississippi 16
Constitution of 1890 is proposed to the qualified electors of the 17
state: 18
Amend Section 273, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read 19
as follows: 20
Section 273. (1) Amendments to this Constitution may be 21
proposed by the Legislature or by initiative of the people. 22
(2) Whenever two-thirds (2/3) of each house of the 23
Legislature, which two-thirds (2/3) shall consist of not less than 24
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a majority of the members elected to each house, shall deem any 25
change, alteration or amendment necessary to this Constitution, 26
such proposed amendment, change or alteration shall be read and 27
passed by two-thirds (2/3) vote of each house, as herein provided; 28
public notice shall then be given by the Secretary of State at 29
least thirty (30) days preceding an election, at which the 30
qualified electors shall vote directly for or against such change, 31
alteration or amendment, and if more than one (1) amendment shall 32
be submitted at one (1) time, they shall be submitted in such 33
manner and form that the people may vote for or against each 34
amendment separately; and, notwithstanding the division of the 35
Constitution into sections, the Legislature may provide in its 36
resolution for one or more amendments pertaining and relating to 37
the same subject or subject matter, and may provide for one or 38
more amendments to an article of the Constitution pertaining and 39
relating to the same subject or subject matter, which may be 40
included in and voted on as one (1) amendment; and if it shall 41
appear that a majority of the qualified electors voting directly 42
for or against the same shall have voted for the proposed change, 43
alteration or amendment, then it shall be inserted as a part of 44
the Constitution by proclamation of the Secretary of State 45
certifying that it received the majority vote required by the 46
Constitution; and the resolution may fix the date and direct the 47
calling of elections for the purposes hereof. 48
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(3) The people reserve unto themselves the power to propose 49
and enact statutory or constitutional amendments by initiative. 50
An initiative to amend the Mississippi statutes may be proposed by 51
a petition signed over a twelve-month period by qualified electors 52
equal in number to at least twenty-five percent (25%) of 53
registered voters. An initiative to amend the Constitution may be 54
proposed by a petition signed over a twelve-month period by 55
qualified electors equal in number to at least * * * forty percent 56
(40%) of * * * registered voters. The qualified electors signing 57
the initiative petition shall include their full printed name, 58
signature, home address and county of residence. The signatures 59
of the qualified electors from any congressional district shall 60
not exceed * * * the total number of signatures required to 61
qualify an initiative petition for placement upon the ballot 62
divided by the number of congressional districts in existence on 63
the day the petition is filed. If an initiative petition contains 64
signatures from a single congressional district which exceed * * * 65
the total number of required signatures, the excess number of 66
signatures from that congressional district shall not be 67
considered by the Secretary of State in determining whether the 68
petition qualifies for placement on the ballot. 69
(4) Every such petition shall include the full text of the 70
measure so proposed, and the petition shall be filed with the 71
Secretary of State not less than four (4) months before the 72
election at which they are to be voted upon. The Secretary of 73
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State, with the advice and consent of the Attorney General, shall 74
determine whether or not the petition is properly written as a 75
statutory amendment or a constitutional amendment and shall 76
certify the initiative. 77
( * * *5) The sponsor of an initiative shall identify in the 78
text of the initiative the amount and source of revenue required 79
to implement the initiative. If the initiative requires a 80
reduction in any source of government revenue, or a reallocation 81
of funding from currently funded programs, the sponsor shall 82
identify in the text of the initiative the program or programs 83
whose funding must be reduced or eliminated to implement the 84
initiative. Compliance with this requirement shall not be a 85
violation of the subject matter requirements of this section of 86
the Constitution. 87
(6) Only one (1) proposal of law and matters properly 88
connected therewith shall be contained in an initiative petition 89
to enable the electors to vote on that proposal separately. 90
( * * *7) The initiative process shall not be used: 91
(a) For the proposal, modification or repeal of any 92
portion of the Bill of Rights of this Constitution; 93
(b) To amend or repeal any law or any provision of the 94
Constitution relating to the Mississippi Public Employees' 95
Retirement System; 96
(c) To amend or repeal the constitutional guarantee 97
that the right of any person to work shall not be denied or 98
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abridged on account of membership or nonmembership in any labor 99
union or organization; or 100
(d) To modify the initiative process for proposing 101
amendments to this Constitution. 102
( * * *8) The Secretary of State shall file with the Clerk 103
of the House and the Secretary of the Senate the complete text of 104
the certified initiative on the first day of the regular session. 105
A constitutional initiative may be adopted by a majority vote of 106
each house of the Legislature. If the initiative is adopted, 107
amended or rejected by the Legislature; or if no action is taken 108
within four (4) months of the date that the initiative is filed 109
with the Legislature, the Secretary of State shall place the 110
initiative on the ballot for the next statewide general election. 111
The Chief Legislative Budget Officer shall prepare a fiscal 112
analysis of each initiative and each legislative alternative. A 113
summary of each fiscal analysis shall appear on the ballot. 114
( * * *9) If the Legislature amends an initiative, the 115
amended version and the original initiative shall be submitted to 116
the electors. An initiative or legislative alternative must 117
receive a majority of the votes thereon and not less than forty 118
percent (40%) of the total votes cast at the election at which the 119
measure was submitted to be approved. If conflicting initiatives 120
or legislative alternatives are approved at the same election, the 121
initiative or legislative alternative receiving the highest number 122
of affirmative votes shall prevail. 123
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( * * *10) If an initiative measure proposed to the 124
Legislature has been rejected by the Legislature and an 125
alternative measure is passed by the Legislature in lieu thereof, 126
the ballot titles of both such measures shall be so printed on the 127
official ballots that a voter can express separately two (2) 128
preferences: first, by voting for the approval of either measure 129
or against both measures, and, secondly, by voting for one (1) 130
measure or the other measure. If the majority of those voting on 131
the first issue is against both measures, then both measures fail, 132
but in that case the votes on the second issue nevertheless shall 133
be carefully counted and made public. If a majority voting on the 134
first issue is for the approval of either measure, then the 135
measure receiving a majority of the votes on the second issue and 136
also receiving not less than forty percent (40%) of the total 137
votes cast at the election at which the measure was submitted for 138
approval shall be law. Any person who votes for the ratification 139
of either measure on the first issue must vote for one (l) of the 140
measures on the second issue in order for the ballot to be valid. 141
Any person who votes against both measures on the first issue may 142
vote but shall not be required to vote for any of the measures on 143
the second issue in order for the ballot to be valid. 144
Substantially the following form shall be * * * in compliance with 145
this subsection: 146
INITIATED BY PETITION AND ALTERNATIVE BY LEGISLATURE 147
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Initiative Measure No. __________, entitled (here insert the 148
ballot title of the initiative measure). 149
Alternative Measure No. __________ A, entitled (here insert 150
the ballot title of the alternative measure). 151
VOTE FOR APPROVAL OF EITHER, OR AGAINST BOTH: 152
FOR APPROVAL OF EITHER Initiative No. ____ 153
OR Alternative No. ____ A ............................. ( ) 154
AGAINST Both Initiative No. ____ 155
AND Alternative No. ____ A ............................ ( ) 156
AND VOTE FOR ONE 157
FOR Initiative Measure No. ____ ....................... ( ) 158
FOR Alternative Measure No. ____ A..................... ( ) 159
( * * *11) No more than five (5) initiative proposals shall 160
be submitted to the voters on a single ballot, and the first five 161
(5) initiative proposals submitted to the Secretary of State with 162
sufficient petitions shall be the proposals which are submitted to 163
the voters. The sufficiency of petitions shall be decided in the 164
first instance by the Secretary of State, subject to review by the 165
Supreme Court of the state, which shall have original and 166
exclusive jurisdiction over all such cases. 167
( * * *12) An initiative approved by the electors shall take 168
effect thirty (30) days from the date of the official declaration 169
of the vote by the Secretary of State, unless the measure provides 170
otherwise. 171
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( * * *13) If any amendment to the Mississippi statutes or 172
the Mississippi Constitution proposed by initiative petition is 173
rejected by a majority of the qualified electors voting thereon, 174
no initiative petition proposing the same, or substantially the 175
same, amendment shall be submitted to the electors for at least 176
two (2) years after the date of the election on such amendment. 177
( * * *14) The Legislature shall provide by law the manner 178
in which initiative petitions shall be circulated, presented and 179
certified. To prevent signature fraud and to maintain the 180
integrity of the initiative process, the state has a compelling 181
interest in * * * ensuring that no person shall circulate an 182
initiative petition or obtain signatures on an initiative petition 183
unless the person is a resident of this state at the time of 184
circulation. For the purposes of this subsection, the term 185
"resident" means a person who is domiciled in Mississippi as 186
evidenced by an intent to maintain a principal dwelling place in 187
Mississippi indefinitely and to return to Mississippi if 188
temporarily absent, coupled with an act or acts consistent with 189
that intent. Every person who circulates an initiative petition 190
shall print and sign his or her name on each page of an initiative 191
petition, or on a separate page attached to each page, certifying 192
that he or she was a resident of this state at the time of 193
circulating the petition. The Secretary of State shall refuse to 194
accept for filing any page of an initiative petition upon which 195
the signatures appearing thereon were obtained by a person who was 196
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not a resident of this state at the time of circulating the 197
petition, and an initiative measure shall not be placed on the 198
ballot if the Secretary of State determines that without such 199
signatures the petition clearly bears an insufficient number of 200
signatures. The provisions of this subsection ( * * *14) shall be 201
applicable to all initiative measures that have not been placed on 202
the ballot at the time this proposed amendment is ratified by the 203
electorate. 204
( * * *15) The Legislature may enact laws to carry out the 205
provisions of this section but shall in no way restrict or impair 206
the provisions of this section or the powers herein reserved to 207
the people. 208
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this proposed amendment shall be 209
submitted by the Secretary of State to the qualified electors at 210
an election to be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday 211
of November 2026, as provided by Section 273 of the Constitution 212
and by general law. 213
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the explanation of this proposed 214
amendment for the ballot shall read as follows: "This proposed 215
amendment reinstates the citizen initiative procedure declared 216
invalid by the Mississippi Supreme Court, provides an initiative 217
process to amend the Mississippi statutes requiring 25% of 218
registered voters, provides an initiative process to amend the 219
Mississippi Constitution requiring 40% of registered voters, 220
conforms the pro rata signature requirements of congressional 221
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ST: Constitution; amend Section 273 to
reinstate initiative process and revise
initiative signature requirements.
districts for initiative petitions to the current number of 222
congressional districts, prescribes signature requirements to 223
include home address and county of residence, and provides that an 224
initiative proposal shall only address one subject." 225