Mississippians have a Constitutional right to propose and pass ballot initiatives.

Because Mississippi no longer has five congressional districts, our current ballot initiative process is on hold until the legislature passes a law that either changes the number of districts from five to four — the number we have now — or eliminates the congressional district requirement.

All it takes is changing JUST ONE WORD.

Mississippi lawmakers need to support and pass a clean bill that restores our rights. That means no fine print. No terms and conditions on the people’s power. It means a clean bill that changes JUST ONE WORD.

That right has been put on pause by politicians in the state legislature who could restore it by changing just one word

TEll your legislator:

support a clean bill to restore our rights

they are holding up our rights

Capitol switchboard:
(601) 359-3770

Call your Legislator today

What is the ballot initiative process?

Ballot initiatives are questions placed before voters on local or statewide ballots. The ballot initiative process gives people the ability to propose constitutional amendments and collect signatures to place those proposals directly before voters. Through ballot initiatives, a majority of voters tell the state or local government what the public wants to get done. Voters in red, blue, and purple states have used ballot initiatives to get issues on the ballot that elected officials have refused to take up so that we can pass laws that help our communities.

However, the number of congressional districts in Mississippi has changed due to population changes and the redistricting process. Because Mississippi no longer has five congressional districts, our current ballot initiative process is on hold until a law is passed by the legislature that simply changes the number of districts from five to four (the number we have now), or eliminates the congressional district requirement.

The Mississippi Constitution provides for a ballot initiative process which allows citizens of Mississippi to propose and approve amendments, or changes, to the state constitution.

TAKE ACTION

What happened to ours?

In 2021, the Mississippi Supreme Court paused Mississippi’s ballot initiative process due to a technicality. As it is written, the Mississippi Constitution requires supporters of a proposed amendment to gather signatures evenly split between five congressional districts. At the time when the ballot initiative process was added to the state constitution, Mississippi’s population required five congressional districts.

However, the number of congressional districts in Mississippi has changed due to population changes and the redistricting process. Because Mississippi no longer has five congressional districts, our current ballot initiative process is on hold until a law is passed by the legislature that simply changes the number of districts from five to four (the number we have now), or eliminates the congressional district requirement.

How do we get it back?

The Mississippi Supreme Court directed the Mississippi State Legislature to resolve this issue by passing a law to reflect our new population and restore our constitutional right to the ballot initiative process.

During any of the four legislative sessions since then, lawmakers could have drafted and passed legislation to change the number of Congressional districts from 5 to 4, or eliminate the congressional definition altogether.

But over four years have passed, and the Mississippi Legislature still refuses to give us our rights back.

During a recent hearing, Secure Democracy Foundation’s director of policy, Samantha Buckley, told the House Voters’ Rights Select Committee there were two potential ways to reinstate the ballot initiative. In her testimony, she told lawmakers they could pursue the first – and most widely known option – changing the number of Congressional districts from 5 to 4 in the Constitution; or they could pursue what she described as a “longer-term fix” – amending the signature cap language to not mention congressional districts at all.