News
Secretary of State Receives Voter ID Petition
February 11, 2010
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Jackson-The Voter Identification petition, or, Initiative Measure #27, seeking to amend the State Constitution to require voters to submit a government issued photo identification before being allowed to vote, has been stamped received by Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann today (Thursday, February 11, 2010).
"Gathering the signatures required to place an initiative on the ballot is a monumental task. Over 90,000 Mississippians have exercised their constitutional rights and asked their voices be heard," says Secretary Hosemann. "Personally, I believe this is a common sense measure to ensure the integrity of your vote."
State law requires that after the initiative sponsor secures the required number of certified signatures, including the required number of certified signatures from each congressional district, the initiative sponsor submits the entire petition as a single unit to the Secretary of State. For an initiative measure to be placed on the ballot, a minimum of 89,285 certified signatures must be gathered, with at least 17,857 certified signatures from each of the five congressional districts as they existed in the year 2000.
By law, the Secretary of State must reject any petition that:
- Is not in the required form, or
- Clearly bears insufficient signatures, or
- Lacks the $500 filing fee,
- Contains one or more signatures obtained in violation of Miss. Ann Code §23-17-17(2), §23-17-57(2), §23-17-57(3), or
- That the time within which the petition may be filed has expired.
Once a valid initiative petition is submitted to the Secretary of State, the Secretary of State must submit the initiative to the Legislature on the first day of the next regular session. The text of the original initiative will appear on the next statewide general election ballot written exactly as lawfully submitted by the sponsor. However, the Legislature may choose to place an alternative version of the initiative on the ballot as well. In that case, both the original initiative and the Legislature's alternative version must appear on the ballot, and the voter may either reject both or choose between them.
