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A ballot initiative process in flux
Initiative 76 is under the same outdated ballot initiative process now hanging by a thread. Unfortunately, the Court’s decision means that Mississippians no longer enjoy the most basic freedom afforded in a democracy – the right to directly control their own destiny, Dr. John Gaudet, a Hattiesburg pediatrician and Initiative 76 sponsor, said Monday about the high court s decision.
Mississippi health care and racial justice advocates continued push for Medicaid expansion coincides with a yearlong pandemic that has boosted the ranks of the unemployed and shrunk family incomes, all of which have had a disproportionate affect on minorities and working poor.
The Mississippi Supreme Court this week struck down the constitutional ballot initiative process in a 6-3 ruling, stating the process âcannot work in a world where Mississippi has fewer than five representatives in Congress.â
Writing for the majority, Justice Josiah Coleman said, âTo work in todayâs reality, it will need amending â something that lies beyond the power of the Supreme Court.â
That power lies first and foremost with the Mississippi Legislature, which for nearly 20 years has ignored the issue that led to the Supreme Courtâs ruling.
When the initiative process was created in 1992, Mississippi had five congressional districts. According to state law, for an initiative to be placed on the ballot, signatures must be gathered equally from all five congressional districts. Following the 2000 Census, the state lost a congressional district, dropping the number to four.