On March 8, the Mississippi Senate passed HC 39, the constitutional amendment to restore the statewide initiative process. However, the Senate amended the bill, so now it must return to the House for concurrence. The Senate vote was unanimous.

Mississippi had the initiative until last year, when the State Supreme Court ruled that it was fundamentally flawed and could not be used until it was fixed. The old law, part of the State Constitution, said signatures are needed from all five U.S. House districts, but Mississippi doesn’t have five districts any more. It only has four.

If the bill passes, then the voters will vote on it in November 2022.

On March 10, U.S. District Court Judge Richard E. Myers issued a written opinion in Cawthorn v Circosta, e.d., 5:22cv-50. This is the North Carolina case filed by Congressman Madison Cawthorn, to stop election officials from determining if he meets the constitutional qualifications to run for Congress. On March 4, Judge Myers had ruled from the bench that the Fourteenth Amendment, section three, is longer in force because Congress passed bills in 1872 and 1898 giving everyone an amnesty. See the part of the opinion that starts on page 19.

On March 11, North Carolina election officials filed a notice of appeal. In the Fourth Circuit the case number is 22-1251.

Wisconsin Republican legislators and party officials are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to revise both the U.S. House district boundaries, and the legislative district boundaries, in separate lawsuits. The case concerning legislative districts is Wisconsin Legislature v Wisconsin Elections Commission, 21A471. A response from the Elections Commission is due Friday, March 11.

The case concerning U.S. House districts is Grothman v Bostelmann, 21A490. The response brief is due March 15. That case was filed by all five of Wisconsin’s Republican U.S. House members.