Marijuana Moment
A campaign that tried unsuccessfully to get a medical cannabis legalization initiative on Idaho’s ballot this year is pushing back against a top state official’s claims about its petitioning drive.
Secretary of State Phil McGrane (R) said earlier this month that his office received “received numerous complaints concerning the petition process” for the marijuana initiative—adding that “even under the most favorable assumption” that every petition sheet turned in was timely filed and that every submitted signature was valid, activists still wouldn’t have met minimum requirements. He also said that possible illegal petitioning conduct has been referred to the State Police for “review and potential criminal investigation.”
Now, in a letter to McGrane, a lawyer for the Natural Medical Alliance of Idaho (NMAI) says that the campaign “does not agree with several issues” the secretary of state raised—although he made clear that advocates won’t be pursuing a legal challenge to the decision to keep the measure off the November ballot.
To be certified for the ballot, the team needed to submit signatures from at least 6 percent of registered voters as of the state’s last general election, which currently amounts to 70,725. They also needed to meet that 6 percent threshold in at least 18 of the state’s 35 legislative districts. But the secretary of state said they only turned in 58,024 county-certified signatures and met the local threshold in only 13 districts.
Read full response and letter at
