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Election officials and the state’s Attorney General announced this week that petitioners behind a proposed ballot initiative legalizing adult-use retail marijuana sales had failed to gather the requisite number of signatures to qualify it for the November ballot. But representatives with the campaign are challenging the state’s count and have called the administration’s declaration “premature.”
According to a campaign spokesperson, representatives from the Smart & Safe Florida campaign submitted over 1.4 million signatures from Florida voters – far more than the 880,062 signatures necessary. To date, however, election officials have verified fewer than 784,000 total signatures.
Specifically, the campaign is challenging the state’s dismissal of at least 98,000 signatures, which, if determined valid, would be sufficient to qualify it for this year’s ballot.
Petitioners qualified a similar measure on the 2024 ballot. That proposal gained 56 percent of the vote, just shy of the 60 percent threshold required to pass a constitutional amendment in Florida. (Florida is the only state that requires citizen-initiated measures to gain more than a simple majority.)
The DeSantis administration has vigorously opposed both efforts. In May, Gov. DeSantis signed legislation making it harder for parties to qualify measures for the electoral ballot. Last month, state election officials audited the work of several counties, which they alleged had not properly verified voters’ signatures. Most recently, the state launched a criminal probe to investigate the actions of various petitioners involved with the Smart & Safer campaign. Separately, the Attorney General’s office had previously challenged the wording of the proposed measure in court, calling it “unconstitutional.”
Historically, Florida has been among the states with the highest number of annual marijuana-related arrests. Under state law, possession of 20 grams or less of marijuana is a criminal misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Possessing greater amounts is a felony offense, punishable by up to five years in prison.
Additional information is available from Smart & Safe Florida.
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