Politics
Mississippi Voters Want To Impeach Justices Who Overturned Medical Marijuana, Poll Shows
Voters also want lawmakers to hold a special session to pass new medical cannabis legislation that mirrors the now-invalidated ballot measure, the survey found.
By Bobby Harrison, Mississippi Today
A strong majority oppose last week’s state Supreme Court decision striking down both a voter initiative that approved medical marijuana and the entire process that Mississippians can gather signatures to place an issue on the ballot for voters to decide.
The poll also found strong support for Gov. Tate Reeves calling a special session to give legislators the opportunity to reverse the actions of the Supreme Court. While Reeves has not called a special session, a diverse set of politicians ranging from Republicans Speaker Philip Gunn and Secretary of State Michael Watson to Democratic Northern District Public Service Commissioner Brandon Presley to House Democratic Leader Robert Johnson have voiced support for one. Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann, who presides over the Senate, has not commented on whether he supports a special session.
Only 22% of Mississippi voters in the survey agree with the MS Supreme Court decision to overturn the election on Medical Marijuana. The criticism is bipartisan—only 29% of Trump/Reeves voters agree with the decision.
— Chism Strategies (@ChismStrat) May 18, 2021
The Supreme Court took the rare step of releasing the controversial decision on Friday afternoon. The poll was conducted quickly after that by Mississippi-based Chism Strategies. Chism had done work for supporters of the medical marijuana initiative that was approved by voters this past November.
The poll found almost 60.9 percent of respondents opposed the Supreme Court decision while 22.3 percent support it. In addition, 59.6 percent support the governor calling a special session on medical marijuana while 20.2 percent oppose such an effort.
Of the 905 Mississippians polled, 69.3 percent voted in favor of medical marijuana this past November while 25.2 percent opposed the initiative. On the November ballot, there were two medical marijuana initiatives: the citizen-sponsored proposal and a legislative alternative. The first question on the ballot asked voters whether they approved either. In November, 68.5 percent of voters said they did support one of the two, correlating closely to the 69.2 percent in the poll saying they voted in favor of medical marijuana.
70% of voters say the legislature should pass a medical marijuana law that matches exactly the wording in the constitutional amendment approved by the voters’ last fall. (Including 63% of Trump/Reeves voters).
— Chism Strategies (@ChismStrat) May 18, 2021
The poll was of landline and cell phone users and was weighted to reflect likely 2022 general election results, meaning a majority of respondents normally vote Republican. The poll had a margin of error 3.26 percent.
Brad Chism of Chism Strategies said he was surprised how many Mississippians knew about the Supreme Court ruling.
“It is a brush fire,” Chism said. “It crosses party lines… People are mad the court would do what they did.”
The poll found that almost 52 percent are “somewhat” or “much” less likely to vote for a legislator who opposed medical marijuana, while just under 30 percent were “much” or “somewhat” more likely to support a candidate opposing the legalization of medical marijuana.
A plurality of Mississippi voters support impeachment of a State Supreme Court justice who voted to overturn the 2020 Medical Marijuana election results. Only 27% oppose impeachment.
— Chism Strategies (@ChismStrat) May 18, 2021
The poll also found 69.7 percent supported the Legislature approving a medical marijuana program that matches the one approved by voters in November. A plurality—45 percent to 27.1 percent—support the impeachment of the Supreme Court justices who supported the ruling.
The Supreme Court ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by the city of Madison and its mayor, Mary Hawkins Butler. The lawsuit alleged the initiative process should be voided because the Constitution requires the signatures to be gathered equally from five congressional districts as they were configured in 1990. In 2000, the state lost a U.S. House seat based on U.S. Census data, rendering it impossible to gather the signatures as mandated in the Constitution, the lawsuit argued.
This story was first published by Mississippi Today.
Photo courtesy of Max Pixel.
