 The Associated Press reported that the group, Oklahomans for Sensible Marijuana Laws gathered enough signatures to qualify an getting an initiative on legalizing recreational adult use cannabis on this November’s ballot, “but because it took longer than usual to count the signatures, [it was] not clear if there [was] enough time to get the question printed on ballots ahead of the Nov. 8 general election.”
Typically the Oklahoma Secretary of State’s Office handles counting signatures in house, but that changed this year when they contracted with an outside firm to help with verification. As a result, the “signature-counting process that typically takes two to three weeks took nearly seven weeks to complete.” The campaign for the legalization measure said that they turned in signatures 30 days early to ensure they would make all the deadlines. But because of the state’s delay in counting, and thus putting the measure in jeopardy of not being on the ballot, they petitioned the Oklahoma Supreme Court to intervene allow the measure to still appear on the ballot. This week, Tulsa Public Radio stated that Oklahoma’s Supreme Court has agreed review the case and decide if the measure will be able to appear on the November ballot. Oklahoma Secretary of State Brian Bingman acknowleged in a statement that the recent change to working with an outside firm for verifying signatures was new to them and they are continuing, “to improve this new process.” Comments are closed.
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