Mississippi Constitution ARTICLE 15. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION 273
Mississippi Constitution – Article 15, Section 273: Amendments to the Constitution
đŸ”¹ Summary of Section 273: Methods of Amending the Constitution
Section 273 provides the primary methods by which the Mississippi Constitution can be amended. There are two main paths outlined:
1. Legislative Proposal (273(1))
Initiated by the Legislature:
Amendments may be proposed in the Mississippi Legislature by a two-thirds vote of both the House and Senate.
Submitted to the Voters:
After legislative approval, the proposed amendment is submitted to the qualified voters of the state at the next general election.
Ratification Requirement:
To be adopted, a majority of voters must approve the amendment.
2. Citizen Initiative (273(3)) – Currently Suspended
Initiated by Citizens:
Mississippi citizens previously had the ability to propose constitutional amendments by petition.
Signature Requirement:
The initiative had to be signed by a certain percentage of registered voters based on the last gubernatorial election.
Geographic Distribution Requirement:
Signatures had to come from each congressional district (specifically 5 districts at the time of writing).
Legal Status:
This process has been invalidated by the Mississippi Supreme Court (2021) due to the fact that the state now has only 4 congressional districts, but the Constitution still requires signatures from 5 — making it impossible to meet the requirement.
3. Limitation on Multiple Amendments (273(2))
If more than one amendment is submitted at the same election, they must be voted on separately, not bundled together.
đŸ”¹ Key Takeaways:
The Mississippi Constitution can be amended either by legislative action or (historically) by citizen initiative.
The citizen initiative process is currently not operational due to a constitutional flaw tied to outdated congressional district language.
Legislative amendments remain the functional method for changing the Constitution.
RELATED Blog
0 comments