Laws governing ballot measures in Mississippi
Citizens of Mississippi may initiate legislation as indirectly initiated constitutional amendments. However, the current Mississippi process for initiated amendments includes a signature distribution requirement that is based on five congressional districts. Mississippi now only has four congressional districts, resulting in the Mississippi Supreme Court ruling that the current requirements for ballot measures to qualify for the ballot cannot be met.[1]
The Mississippi State Legislature may place measures on the ballot as legislatively referred constitutional amendments and legislatively referred state statutes. A two-thirds (66.67%) vote in each chamber during one legislative session is required to refer and amendment to the ballot, while a statute requires a simple majority in each chamber during one legislative session to be referred to the ballot. Statutes require the signature of the governor to appear on the ballot.
Below are links to the various types of ballot measure law Ballotpedia tracks:
- Laws governing the initiative process in Mississippi
- Amending the Mississippi Constitution
- Laws governing local ballot measures in Mississippi
- Signature requirements for ballot measures in Mississippi
- Campaign finance requirements for Mississippi ballot measures
Ballot measure lawsuits
The following is a selection of historical lawsuits related to ballot measure law.
See also
- Laws governing ballot measures
- Types of ballot measures in Mississippi
- List of Mississippi ballot measures
Footnotes