Oklahoma’s petition to legalize medical marijuana might not go before voters in November, despite turning in more signatures than required Aug. 23, according to Scott Pruitt, the state’s attorney general.
Turning in signatures so close to the election doesn’t give enough time for legal challenges or to print and send ballots to counties, military members and overseas voters, according to a KTUL article. The legal challenge could come from medical marijuana supporters, after Pruitt submitted a new title for the ballot measure Aug. 25.
The original proposal, which can be read online by clicking here, was submitted Apr. 11 by the group Oklahomans for Health. The proposed ballot language starts by specifying that the measure legalizes “the licensed use, sale, and growth of marijuana in Oklahoma for medicinal purposes. A license is required for use and possession of marijuana for medicinal purposes and must be approved by an Oklahoma Board Certified Physician.”
The new proposal from Pruitt’s office begins: “This measure legalizes the licensed use, sale, and growth of marijuana in Oklahoma. There are no qualifying medical conditions identified. Possession and use of marijuana is authorized through a medical marijuana license that is valid for two years, rather than by prescription.” The full text of the updated ballot language can be read online by clicking here.
The ACLU claims Pruitt deliberately reworded the ballot title to make it seem as though Oklahomans are voting to legalize marijuana in general, according to a News 9 article.
“The Attorney General has all but guaranteed that Oklahomans for Health will have to challenge this in the Supreme Court,” says Allie Shinn with the ACLU in the article. “This further delays the process and the chances of this ballot initiative in the November ballot.”
Proponents for the measure, including Oklahomans for Health, collected more than enough signatures by Aug. 23 to place the measure on the November ballot, according to Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin in a KOKH article. The measure required 65,987 signatures, and the secretary of state’s office reported that 67,761 signatures were turned in.
“It’s important for the people of Oklahoma to know, regardless of the substance of the state question, the signatures were not submitted with enough time to allow this process to be played out completely,” said Pruitt in a Fox 25 article.
Oklahomans for Health plans to file a challenge to the rewrite before the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which could change the language back to the original, according to a Tulsa World article. With the challenge, the initiative would not make the Nov. ballot, but could be on a special election or a 2018 primary or general election ballot.
The measure must wait for 10 days to allow for opponents to object to the attorney general office’s new ballot title. According to the Fox 25 article, Fallin cannot place the initiative on the ballot until the 10-day period is up.
Oklahomans for Health is currently looking for opinions from local voters on its potential decision, according to a post on the group’s Facebook page.
Pruitt has been criticized for ballot title revisions in the past, according to the Tulsa World article. Earlier in August, the state supreme court found his revisions to two criminal justice reform measures “misleading and partial.” In those cases, the court rewrote the ballot titles after a challenge.
