Mississippi Open Primary Amendment, Initiative 57 (2018)
| Mississippi Initiative 57: Open Primary Amendment | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 6, 2018 | |
| Topic Elections and campaigns | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
Mississippi Initiative 57, the Open Primary Amendment, was not on the ballot in Mississippi as an indirect initiated constitutional amendment on November 6, 2018.
The measure would have changed the primary process in Mississippi from closed—in which only voters registered for the party which is holding the primary may vote—to open—in which any registered voter can vote in any party's primary.[1]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The proposed ballot title was as follows:[1]
| “ | Should the State adopt an open primary election process limited to Republican, Democrat, and Independent candidates?[2] | ” |
Ballot summary
The proposed ballot summary was as follows:[1]
| “ | Initiative Measure No. 57 proposes to provide for an open primary election process. All primary ballots would include Republican, Democrat, and Independent Candidates. The Republican, Democrat, and Independent candidates receiving the highest number of votes would advance to the General Election.[2] | ” |
Support
Doll Swindle sponsored the initiative.[1]
Arguments in favor
In her original filing, Doll Swindle said the following:[1]
| “ | To the office of the Secretary of State of Mississippi: I, Doll Swindle, a registered voter of Wayne County, Mississippi, purpose the following initiative which is an issue that has not been addressed: Change the current voting election process for Primaries from closed primary to open primary. this will allow Republican, Democrat, and Independent voters to select the candidate they believe is best for each race without being excluded the opportunity to vote due to their political party affiliation. Each voter is then given the power to show that their vote counts regardless of their political party but their morals, values and beliefs will be heard. Having an open primary will also encourage more people to show up on election day. The candidate for each office will be able to run in whatever political party he or she chooses without having to crossover just to receive votes. Each ballot will have a list of Republican, Democrat, and Independent Candidate for each office. After the votes have been casted then the top Republican, Democrat and Independent Candidate will run in the November Election. This will take the edge off the candidates so that they will be able to run for their political party, but allow voters to choose who they want in office. The money used to fund this open primary format would come from the same funding mechanism that was in place for Mississippi elections and should actually reduce the cost associated with the election process in Mississippi.[2] | ” |
Path to the ballot
According to Mississippi law, the number of signatures collected must be equal to at least 12 percent of the total number of votes cast for governor in the last gubernatorial general election. Based on the votes cast in the 2015 gubernatorial election, petitioners needed to collect at least 86,185 valid signatures in accordance with the state's distribution requirement in order to get the initiative on the ballot. An initiative can be circulated for one year before becoming invalid. Initiative 57 expired without supporters submitting any signatures.
See also
Footnotes
 |
State of Mississippi Jackson (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |
