JACKSON, MS, Feb. 17, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Personhood Mississippi, a citizen-led grassroots organization, submitted over 130,000 signatures late Tuesday, becoming the fourth ballot initiative in the state since 1992 to fulfill the requirement of 89,285 voter signatures.
The signatures were collected in order to put a Personhood amendment on the ballot, which, if passed, would affirm the personhood rights of all humans. Volunteers have been collecting signatures since February 12 2009.
105,000 of the submitted signatures were certified as valid by 82 different County Circuit Clerks. The abundance of signatures broke the state record for signatures in every other initiative in Mississippi history.
Comprised of all volunteers, Personhood Mississippi laid claim to over 2,000 volunteers and over 1,000 churches. Lieutenant Governor Phil Bryant was present at yesterday's press conference, helping to turn in the boxes of completed petitions.
“Despite the superfluous restrictions set before us, the people of Mississippi have spoken. With God's blessing we have made history and exceeded the signature requirement by tens of thousands,” stated Les Riley, sponsor of the Mississippi Personhood Amendment. “In the next few days, we fully expect Secretary of State Dilbert Hosemann to approve our amendment, as we have exceeded all requirements by the State of Mississippi.”
Once each district's signatures are verified, the amendment will be placed on the November 2011 ballot.
“The overwhelming number of signatures proves that Mississippi citizens want to end baby murder,” commented Cal Zastrow, co-founder of Personhood USA. “God raised up the volunteers to complete this task, and Personhood USA is thrilled to be a part of that task force. Now we are looking forward to victory at the ballot box!”