INITIATIVE MEASURE NO. 19

SPONSOR: Nick Walters, Post Office Box 2599, Jackson, MS 39207

SUBJECT MATTER: Elections

PROPOSED BALLOT TITLE: Should the Constitution require: voter identification; open primaries; state elections be held in 2006; and, restrictions on mailing absentee ballots?

PROPOSED BALLOT SUMMARY: Passage of this initiative would amend the Mississippi Constitution to require: open party primary elections; that all voters present identification in order to vote; a doctor's affidavit that a voter is unable to come to the polls before an absentee ballot may be sent to the voter; and, that elections for state, district and county offices be held in November of 2006 and every fourth year thereafter.

ORIGINAL FILING: December 29, 1998

STATUS: Expired

  
Initiative Information

The official ballot title and ballot summary for an initiative measure are prepared by the Mississippi Attorney General's Office. Initiative petitions are valid for one year. According to Mississippi law, for an initiative petition to be sufficient a minimum of 91,673 certified signatures must be gathered; with at least 18,355 certified signatures from each of the five congressional districts. The number of signatures required represents 12% of the total number of votes cast for Governor in the last gubernatorial general election. All signatures on the petition must be certified by county Circuit Clerks as those of registered Mississippi voters.

For more information on the initiative process in Mississippi, consult the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, Section 273; and Miss. Code Ann., Sections 23-17-1 through 23-17-61 (1972).