The audio version of this story is AI generated and is not human reviewed. It may contain errors or inaccuracies. The Senate Elections Committee adopted a measure on Tuesday that would, at least partially, restore the system to allow Mississippians to bypass the Legislature and put issues to a sta tewide vote.  The committee voted to approve Senate Concurrent Resolution 518, which would require initiative organizers to gather signatures from at least 10% of registered voters in the state, or roughly 170,000 signatures, before it can go on a ballot.  The committee’s chairman, Republican Sen. Jeremy England of Vancleave, said the measure is a work in progress, but he wanted to advance the bill ahead of Tuesday’s key legislative deadline for the Senate to continue debating the measure.   The Mississippi Supreme Court invalidated the state’s initiative process in 2021 over technicalities, and the Legislature has not been able to reach a consensus on how to restore it to voters ever since.  “When we have something and get it taken away from us, we want it back,” England said.  State Sen. Jeremy England, R-Vancleave, speaks to reporters at a press conference with Republican Secretary of State Michael Watson at the Mississippi State Capitol on Jan. 21, 2026, about strengthening Mississippi’s campaign finance laws. Credit: Katherine Lin/Mississippi Today As it’s currently written, England’s resolution would allow a ballot initiative to change or create state law, but not the state Constitution, as the previous ballot initiative system provided. It would also prohibit initiatives related to abortion and the state’s public pension system.  The Jackson County lawmaker said he doesn’t have any concerns about Mississippians voting on a statewide ballot to keep Mississippi’s strict abortion laws in place.  But he worries that out-of-state interest groups would “put a target” on the state and work to overturn the state’s abortion laws because a Mississippi law is what led to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.   If voters approve an initiative, England’s measure prevents the Legislature from passing a law to undo or change it for a period of two years, unless the Legislature votes, by a three-fifths margin, to change it because of an emergency circumstance.  The measure is several steps away from becoming a reality. It now heads to the full Senate floor, where at least two-thirds of the chamber’s members have to approve it before it can advance to a House committee. If it passes the Legislature, the initiative process would have to be ratified by voters in a statewide election. Mississippi voters’ right to ballot initiative is in the state Constitution, but it was nullified by the state Supreme Court in 2021 in a ruling over a medical marijuana initiative because of language referring to the state’s old number of congressional districts. The last day for the chamber to adopt the measure on the Senate floor is Feb. 12. ...read more read less