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To: Elections
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026
By: Senator(s) Blount
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 516
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO SECTION 33, 1
MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, TO PROVIDE THAT THE LEGISLATURE 2
BY GENERAL LAW MAY PROVIDE FOR A CITIZEN INITIATIVE PROCEDURE FOR 3
PROPOSING AMENDMENTS TO MISSISSIPPI STATUTES. 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 33, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read 9
as follows: 10
Section 33. (1) The legislative power of this state shall 11
be vested in a Legislature which shall consist of a Senate and a 12
House of Representatives, as well as with qualified electors 13
according to the process described in subsections (2) through (17) 14
herein. 15
(2) If any qualified elector of the state desires to 16
initiate a proposed amendment to the general laws of this state, 17
the qualified elector shall first file with the Secretary of State 18
a typewritten copy of the proposed initiative measure, accompanied 19
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by an affidavit that the sponsor is a qualified elector of this 20
state. The initiative process shall not be used for the proposal 21
to amend or repeal any portion of the ballot initiative process or 22
to amend or repeal any law relating to the Mississippi Employees' 23
Retirement System (PERS). 24
(3) A petition submitted under subsection (2) is valid for a 25
period of twelve (12) months. 26
(4) Upon receipt of any proposed initiative measure, the 27
Secretary of State shall submit a copy of the proposed measure to 28
the Attorney General and give notice to the qualified elector who 29
filed the proposed measure upon transmittal. The Attorney General 30
may confer with the qualified elector for purposes of drafting the 31
proposal as outlined in Section 3 of Senate Bill No. ___, 2026 32
Regular Session. 33
(5) Upon completion of revising or altering the proposal as 34
necessary, the Attorney General shall issue a certificate of 35
review to the qualified elector for further filing with the 36
Secretary of State. After the final proposal and certificate of 37
review have been filed, the Secretary of State shall assign a 38
serial number to the initiative measure. 39
(6) After the initiative is assigned a serial number, the 40
Attorney General shall formulate a title and summary of the 41
initiative measure to accompany the measure on the ballot 42
according to the process outlined in Senate Bill No. ___, 2026 43
Regular Session. 44
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(7) Upon completion of the title and summary, the Secretary 45
of State shall ensure publication of the title and summary in a 46
newspaper or newspapers of general circulation and on the 47
Secretary of State's website according to Section 7 of Senate Bill 48
No. ___, 2026 Regular Session. 49
(8) If any qualified elector is dissatisfied with the ballot 50
title or summary, the qualified elector may appeal the title and 51
summary in the process outlined in Section 8 of Senate Bill No. 52
___, 2026 Regular Session. 53
(9) Upon formal establishment of the ballot title and 54
summary, the Secretary of State shall file the instrument 55
establishing both with the proposed measure and transmit a copy 56
thereof by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the person 57
proposing the measure. Thereafter such ballot title shall be the 58
title of the measure in all petitions, ballots and other 59
proceedings in relation thereto. The summary shall appear on all 60
petitions directly following the ballot title. 61
(10) The qualified elector proposing the initiative shall 62
circulate a petition for signature collection according to the 63
form and process set forth in Senate Bill No. ___, 2026 Regular 64
Session. 65
(11) Upon collection of signatures, the Secretary of State 66
shall certify the signatures and shall state the total number of 67
qualified electors signing the petition. 68
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(12) If the petition meets all requirements set forth in 69
Senate Bill No. ___, 2026 Regular Session, the Secretary of State 70
shall accept and file the petition. If the Secretary of State 71
refuses to file a valid petition, the qualified elector may 72
petition the Supreme Court according to Senate Bill No. ___, 2026 73
Regular Session. 74
(13) Each measure submitted to the people for approval or 75
rejection shall be printed on the ballot, under the proper 76
heading, so that a voter can, by making one (1) choice, express 77
his or her approval or rejection of such measure. 78
(14) No more than five (5) initiative proposals shall be 79
submitted to the voters on a single ballot, and the first five (5) 80
initiative proposals submitted to the Secretary of State with 81
sufficient petitions shall be the proposals which are submitted to 82
the voters. The Secretary of State shall retain any otherwise 83
sufficient petitions beyond five (5) and shall place them, in the 84
chronological order in which they were submitted, on the ballot 85
for the next statewide general election occurring after the 86
upcoming statewide general election. 87
(15) Except as otherwise provided in Senate Bill No. ___, 88
2026 Regular Session, an initiative shall require a majority vote 89
of the people in favor of the initiative to be effective. An 90
initiative approved by the electors shall take effect thirty (30) 91
days from the date of the official declaration of the vote by the 92
Secretary of State, unless the measure provides otherwise. 93
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(16) If any amendment measure proposed by initiative 94
petition under this act is rejected by the qualified electors 95
voting thereon, no initiative petition proposing the same, or 96
substantially the same, amendment shall be submitted to the 97
electors for at least two (2) years after the date of the 98
election. No initiative approved by the electors may be amended 99
by the Legislature for four (4) years after the date of the 100
election on such amendment without a three-fourths (3/4) vote of 101
both houses of the Legislature. 102
(17) A pamphlet containing a copy of all initiative 103
measures, including the ballot title and ballot summary, arguments 104
or explanations for and against each measure and alternative, and 105
the fiscal analysis prepared by the Chief Legislative Budget 106
Officer shall be compiled by the Secretary of State according to 107
Section 19 of Senate Bill No. ___, 2026 Regular Session. 108
Additionally, the Secretary of State shall conduct at least one 109
(1) public hearing in each Supreme Court district on each measure 110
to be placed on the ballot. 111
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this proposed amendment shall be 112
submitted by the Secretary of State to the qualified electors at 113
an election to be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday 114
of November 2026, as provided by Section 273 of the Constitution 115
and by general law. 116
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the explanation of this proposed 117
amendment for the ballot shall read as follows: "This proposed 118
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ST: Constitution; amend Section 33 to authorize
initiative procedure for new law.
amendment authorizes qualified electors of the state to enact 119
legislation by ballot initiative, via a process outline in this 120
language and in statutes adopted by the Legislature." 121