Thanks to Richard Winger of Ballot Access news for this post.
On May 14th, the Mississippi Supreme Court Ruled 6-3, that the Statewide Initiative Process can’t be Used any longer, unless or until the Legislature Passes a New Bill Reinstating it.
The Initiative Process is in the State Constitution.
Ever since 1992, the Mississippi Constitution has provided for the Initiative but has said that No more than One-Fifth of the Signatures can come from a Single U.S. House District.
Back in 1992, there were Five Districts, but after the 2000 Census, Mississippi went from Five to Four Districts.
The Election Code still has the Boundaries for the Five Districts that were Passed in 1991.
The Current Boundaries, for only Four Districts, were drawn by a U.S. District Court, because the Legislature never bothered to Draw New Boundaries.
Until now, the State has Recognized Initiative Petitions if they followed the Statutory Boundaries of the Old Five Districts, and several Initiatives Won at the Ballot Box even though they had Submitted Petitions based on the Five-District Plan.
Those Initiatives have Not been Invalidated.
The New Decision says that the Medical Marijuana Initiative Passed in November 2020 is Invalid, because its Petition was Invalid, as it was based on the “shadow” Five-District Map.
The Majority Decision says that the Problem could be Fixed if the Legislature Passed a Law saying for Purposes of the Initiative Process, the Old Five-District Boundaries could be used.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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