SC 517 Mississippi Senate · 2026 Regular Session

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

This bill proposes amending Mississippi's constitution to reinstate the citizen initiative process for proposing constitutional changes, which was previously invalidated by the state supreme court. It would require initiative petitions to gather signatures equal to 40% of registered voters (instead of a fixed number), mandate inclusion of petitioners' home addresses, and limit signatures per congressional district based on current district counts. The bill also specifies that each petition must contain only one proposal to allow separate voting, and prohibits initiatives targeting specific constitutional sections like the Bill of Rights. These changes aim to create a more transparent and district-representative process for citizen-driven constitutional amendments.
Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Jan 19, 2026 Last action Feb 3, 2026