By On Tuesday, the Oklahoma Supreme Court agreed to settle a dispute over a recreational cannabis initiative that could be reflected in state votes this year, telling activists that the proposal may still be valid. gave me hope.
The outlook for the initiative looked grim last week. Oklahoma’s secretary of state confirmed that organizers had submitted more signatures than the proposal needed to qualify for the ballot, but supporters could not be approved before the Aug. 29 deadline. I lamented that I was sensible.
As the Associated Press detailed Tuesday, Oklahomans of Sensible Marijuana Laws, the group behind the proposal known as State Question 820, said, “We gathered enough signatures to qualify … We participated in a statewide ballot, but we didn’t have enough signatures to count. It’s taken longer than usual, so it’s not clear if we’ll have enough time to get the questions printed on the ballots ahead of the general election on November 8.”
Supporters of State Question 820 have petitioned the Oklahoma Supreme Court to resolve the issue.
“Since submitting the initiative over six months ago, supporters have expedited the cumbersome Oklahoma Initiative petition process so that Oklahomaans can exercise their right to vote on the bill in the next general election. The 820 Campaign wrote in its petition: As quoted by the Associated Press. “But they have been thwarted by state officials (or select vendors) who are unable or unwilling to perform their administrative duties in a timely and efficient manner.”
On Tuesday, the state Supreme Court “issued an order that has jurisdiction to determine whether state issues will be reflected in the November 2022 ballot.” According to Tulsa Public Radio, A decision to please the SQ 820 campaign.
According to the bureau, “the bill must go through a 10-day public period before court judges approve it for the general election.”
Campaign Director Michelle Tilley said, “We’re really excited. Quoted by local news station Fox 25. “We are thrilled that the Supreme Court has acknowledged that there are enough valid signatures to move forward and that they may have jurisdiction to place this after the 10-day protest period is over. We’re thrilled to have left sex in the November poll.”
“We did what we had to do. We worked really, really hard,” Tilly added. Quoted by Tulsa Public Radio. “We turned in our signatures 30 days ago. increase.”
The 820 campaign is particularly hampered by the new voting system implemented in Oklahoma this year.
The Associated Press reports “While the Office of the Oklahoma Secretary of State has typically handled signature tallying in-house, this year’s process included the addition of a political office to provide software and technical assistance to help verify the voter registration status of signers. It included contracts with companies related to polling firms.” As a result, “supporters say it took nearly seven weeks to complete the signature-counting process, which normally takes two to three weeks.”
“This new process is very different from the historical practice of simply counting the number of individuals who sign the petition regardless of their voter registration status,” said Oklahoma Secretary of State Brian Bingman. . Said In a statement quoted by the Associated Press. “Our office is in constant contact with our proposers and we look forward to working with them and other stakeholders to continue improving this new process.”
