Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston has announced that a petition to put a medical marijuana initiative on the November ballot has fallen short of the required number of signatures. The petition, submitted by Arkansans for Patient Access, needed 90,704 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. However, Thurston’s office found that only 88,040 signatures met the criteria.
Arkansans for Patient Access had previously claimed to have submitted 150,335 signatures, but the secretary of state’s office discovered that many of these signatures were invalid. The group had hired a canvassing company to collect signatures, but the company’s certifications were not signed by the group itself, as required by state law.
The group has vowed to file a lawsuit in response to Thurston’s decision, arguing that the state is trying to silence the voices of its citizens. “Our state and our state government are doing everything in their power to make sure that the people’s voice is not heard,” said Melissa Fults, a volunteer with Arkansans for Patient Access.
The proposed medical marijuana initiative would have expanded the state’s medical marijuana program, allowing more medical professionals to certify patients, allowing patients to grow and process their own marijuana, and reducing patient costs. If passed, it would have added a provision to the Arkansas Constitution stating that constitutional amendments cannot be amended or repealed without the approval of the people.
The Family Council Action Committee, a conservative group, has praised Thurston’s decision, saying that the group’s efforts to gather signatures were invalid. “It’s like a football player running for the end zone, but if you step out of bounds, it’s over,” said Jerry Cox, the group’s executive director.
