On May 14, 2021, theMississippi Supreme Court overturnedInitiative 65, the 2020 medical marijuana initiative. The ruling stated that the initiative petition did not comply with the signaturedistribution requirements in theMississippi Constitution andthat 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."^[1]

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 the2022 ballot in Mississippi filed a lawsuit challenging the Supreme Court's ruling.^[2]

Click here for more information on the lawsuit and the ruling.

1. ↑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
2. ↑WMC Action News, "Challenge filed to Mississippi Supreme Court’s ruling on Initiative 65," accessed June 3, 2021

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