By State officials said the results were unsealed this week as activists speculated that their bid to ask cannabis legalization questions in this year’s vote in Missouri might have been insufficient. rice field.
“It’s not clear if it will succeed. It’s never certain that they will fail. It’s not dead,” said Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft. Said St. Louis Post Dispatch..
The Ashcroft office is reviewing hundreds of thousands of signatures submitted by Legal Missouri2022, a group competing for questions about this year’s ballots. If it passes, the initiative will legalize Missouri’s adult cannabis over the age of 21 and establish a state-regulated marijuana market. It will provide a way for state individuals previously convicted of nonviolent pot-related crimes to erase their records.
But first, you need to qualify for ballot. To do so, the organizer states, “Six of the eight parliamentary districts of the state require signatures from 8% of registered voters.” After shipping.. (This represents a total of approximately 170,000 signatures.)
Associated Press reported In early May, Legal Missouri “collected nearly twice as many signatures as needed by mid-April and submitted over 385,000 signatures.”
However, there were signs of a problem earlier this week. Reported by local TV station KFVS On Tuesday, the organizers collected a sufficient number of signatures in the four parliamentary districts, but the numbers in the other four districts could decline.
The Ashcroft office will make a final call as to whether the initiative is eligible by August 9.
Meanwhile, the people involved in Legal Missouri have hope.
“The Legal Missouri 2022 Campaign continues to work to ensure that all valid voters’ signatures are properly counted, and we are excited to give Missouri voters the opportunity to make their own decisions soon,” the group said. Said John Payne, campaign manager for. Said St. Louis Post Dispatch..
“A scrutiny of the total voter signatures submitted by the county to the state shows that there are enough signatures to recognize citizens’ initiative for the November general election vote, and some counties have turned to temporary workers. It turned out to be falsely rejected because of its reliance. The signatures of thousands of valid voters. For clarity, this does not imply or imply any misconduct on the part of the county. ” Continued.
Ashcroft himself did not rule out that possibility.
“When I went back and checked, I found enough signatures,” said Ashcroft. After shipping..
Pain and other supporters of the initiative believe that the state’s previous acceptance of medical cannabis and then launching its program heralds a chance in November of this year.
In 2018, the majority of Missouri voters approved an initiative to legalize medical cannabis for eligible patients.
“Missouri citizens are now confident in their ability to run a new division of state government that regulates marijuana,” Legal Missouri said on its website. “The Health and Senior Services Department effectively managed the new program and met all the guidelines set by the Constitution of Missouri.”
In addition to legalizing adult marijuana and setting up a regulated market framework, the initiative will extend the validity of medical marijuana patient and caregiver ID cards from one to three years and increase their costs. Keep it low ($ 25). ”According to the Legal Missouri website. It will also reduce the $ 100 fee for patients who grow their own cannabis by 50%.
1 Comment