MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

1998 Regular Session

To: Constitution

By: Representative Simpson

House Concurrent Resolution 69

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PROPOSING AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 128 AND SECTION 129, MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, TO PROVIDE THAT BEGINNING WITH THE ELECTIONS HELD IN 2003, THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR AND GOVERNOR SHALL BE CHOSEN JOINTLY BY EACH VOTER CASTING A SINGLE VOTE APPLICABLE TO BOTH OFFICES; TO PROVIDE THAT THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR SHALL APPOINT THE MEMBERS AND CHAIRMEN OF SENATE COMMITTEES AND SHALL REFER ALL BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS TO THE APPROPRIATE SENATE COMMITTEES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That the following amendments to the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 are proposed to the qualified electors of the state:

I.

Amend Section 128, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 128. There shall be a Lieutenant Governor who shall be elected at the same time, in the same manner, and for the same term, and who shall possess the same qualifications as required of the Governor. Any person elected to the office of Lieutenant Governor shall be eligible to succeed himself in office, but no person who has been elected to the office of Lieutenant Governor for two (2) successive terms shall be eligible to hold that office until one (2) term has intervened. The Lieutenant Governor, beginning with the elections held in 2003, and every four (4) years thereafter, shall be chosen jointly with the Governor by the casting by each voter of a single vote applicable to both offices."

II.

Amend Section 129, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 129. The Lieutenant Governor shall, by virtue of his office, be President of the Senate. He shall appoint the members and chairman of each committee of the Senate and shall refer all bills and resolutions to the appropriate committees.

In committee of the whole he may debate all questions, and where there is an equal division in the Senate, or on a joint vote of both houses, he shall give the casting vote."

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That these proposed amendments 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 1998, as provided by Section 273 of the Constitution and by general law, with the amendments in this resolution being voted on as one (1) amendment since the proposed amendments pertain to one (1) subject.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the explanation of this proposed amendment for the ballot shall read as follows: "This proposed constitutional amendment provides that beginning with the elections held in 2003, the Lieutenant Governor and Governor shall be chosen jointly by each voter casting a single vote applicable to both offices. The amendment also provides that the Lieutenant Governor shall appoint all Senate committee members and chairmen and shall refer all bills and resolutions to the appropriate Senate committee."

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Attorney General of the State of Mississippi shall submit this resolution, immediately upon adoption by the Legislature, to the Attorney General of the United States or to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, in accordance with the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.