status = models.CharField(max_length=2, null=True, choices=STATUSES, default="E")
or to avoid setting an invalid default if STATUSES changes:
status = models.CharField(max_length=2, null=True, choices=STATUSES, default=STATUSES[0][0])
status = models.CharField(max_length=2, null=True, choices=STATUSES, default="E")
or to avoid setting an invalid default if STATUSES changes:
status = models.CharField(max_length=2, null=True, choices=STATUSES, default=STATUSES[0][0])