Bill Text: MS SC513 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Constitution; amend to prohibit noncitizen voting by Mississippi Citizen Only Voting Amendment (COVA).
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2024-03-05 - Died In Committee [SC513 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2024-SC513-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2024 Regular Session
To: Constitution; Elections
By: Senator(s) McMahan
Senate Concurrent Resolution 513
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO SECTION 241 OF THE MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, TO LIMIT VOTING IN STATE AND LOCAL ELECTIONS TO CITIZENS OF MISSISSIPPI.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, TWO-THIRDS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, WHICH TWO-THIRDS CONSISTS OF NOT LESS THAN A MAJORITY OF THE MEMBERS ELECTED TO EACH HOUSE, That the following amendment to the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 is proposed to the qualified electors of the state:
Amend Section 241, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:
Section 241. * * * Only
an inhabitant of this state, except idiots and insane persons, who is a
citizen of the United States of America, eighteen (18) years old and upward,
who has been a resident of this state for one (1) year, and for one (1) year in
the county in which he offers to vote, and for six (6) months in the election
precinct or in the incorporated city or town in which he offers to vote, and
who is duly registered as provided in this article, and who has never been
convicted of murder, rape, bribery, theft, arson, obtaining money or goods
under false pretense, perjury, forgery, embezzlement or bigamy, is declared to
be a qualified elector, except that he shall be qualified to vote for President
and Vice President of the United States if he meets the requirements established
by Congress therefor and is otherwise a qualified elector.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the amendment in this resolution shall be submitted by the Secretary of State to the qualified electors at an election to be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November 2024, as provided by Section 273 of the Constitution and by general law.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the explanation of the amendment for the ballot shall read as follows: "The current language of the Mississippi Constitution leaves an opportunity for noncitizen inhabitants of Mississippi to vote in local and state elections. By amending the Constitution's language as proposed, eligible voters in local and state elections would be limited to citizens of Mississippi."
