Mississippi Redistricting Amendment (2022)
| Mississippi Redistricting Amendment | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 8, 2022 | |
| Topic Redistricting measures | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Mississippi Redistricting Amendment was not on the ballot in Mississippi as an indirect initiated constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022.
The measure would have changed the way Mississippi apportioned legislative districts.[1]
Text of measure
Constitutional changes
The measure would add the following text to Section 254 of the Mississippi Constitution:
Each apportionment under this section shall be made in accordance with the following:
- (a) Each district shall be a single member district;
- (b) The population of each senatorial district shall be substantially the same as other senatorial districts, and each representative district shall be substantially the same as other representative districts;
- (c) Each county shall be divided to the minimum extent practicable in the creation of districts;
- (d) Where the population of a county is not sufficient to comprise a district, the whole of such county shall be included in one (1) district to the extent practicable; and
- (e) Each municipality shall be divided to the minimum extent practicable in the creation of districts.
Path to the ballot
The state process
In Mississippi, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 12 percent of the total number of votes cast for governor in the last gubernatorial general election immediately preceding the signature deadline—not necessarily the gubernatorial election immediately preceding the targeted election date. Beginning with the day the sponsor receives the ballot title and summary, proponents have one year to circulate petitions and receive certification from the county circuit clerks. Petitions must be submitted to the secretary of state at least 90 days prior to the beginning of the regular session—which begins in the first week of January.
The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2022 ballot:
- Signatures: 106,190 valid signatures were required.
- Deadline: Petitions must be submitted to the secretary of state at least 90 days prior to the beginning of the regular session—which begins in the first week of January.
Petition sponsors must submit signatures to the appropriate county circuit clerks. There are no mandatory deadlines for this review and sponsors are recommended to coordinate with local clerks to ensure timely certification. Once the circuit clerks have certified the signatures, proponents must file the entire petition with the secretary of state. Sponsors must also pay a $500 fee upon filing.
An initiative must receive a majority of the total votes cast for that particular initiative and must also receive more than 40% of the total votes cast in that election.[3]
Details about this initiative
- Elaine M. Talbott proposed the amendment.[4]
- The 2020 regular session of the Mississippi legislative session convened on January 7, 2020, meaning signatures must have been submitted for 2020 initiatives on October 9, 2019. Proponents did not submit signatures by the deadline, therefore the initiative did not secure a place on the 2020 ballot.
- Sponsors did not submit signatures to qualify for the measure for the 2022 ballot before the petition expired.[4]
On May 14, 2021, the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned Initiative 65, the 2020 medical marijuana initiative. The ruling stated that the initiative petition did not comply with the signature distribution requirements in the Mississippi Constitution and that it is impossible for any petition to meet the requirements and has been impossible since congressional reapportionment in 2001.
The six justices wrote, "... Whether with intent, by oversight, or for some other reason, the drafters of [the constitutional signature distribution requirement] wrote a ballot initiative process that cannot work in a world where Mississippi has fewer than five representatives in Congress. To work in today’s reality, it will need amending—something that lies beyond the power of the Supreme Court."[5]
The 1992 constitutional amendment that granted the power of citizen initiative in Mississippi required signatures to be collected evenly from all five congressional districts that existed at the time. It mandated no more than one-fifth of the required signatures could be collected from any single congressional district. During 2001 redistricting after the 2000 census, however, the number of congressional districts in the state was reduced to four.
Sponsors of some initiatives targeting the 2022 ballot in Mississippi filed a lawsuit challenging the Supreme Court's ruling.[6]
Click here for more information on the lawsuit and the ruling.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "Redistricting initiative full text," accessed February 3, 2019
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source.
- ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "Mississippi's initiative process," accessed December 27, 2018
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Mississippi Secretary of State, "Initiative 66 information," accessed February 3, 2019
- ↑ Mississippi Supreme Court, "IN RE INITIATIVE MEASURE NO. 65: MAYOR MARY HAWKINS BUTLER v MICHAEL WATSON, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI," accessed May 14, 2021
- ↑ WMC Action News, "Challenge filed to Mississippi Supreme Court’s ruling on Initiative 65," accessed June 3, 2021
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