A district court judge in Nebraska ruled that votes for and against the state’s medical cannabis ballot measures will be counted and made public. With the last week’s ruling Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong rejected a request to halt the process.
What Happened
John Kuehn, who has served in the Legislature in 2015-2019 and has been a leader in the anti-legalization group Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) filed a lawsuit in September attempting to block the measures from reaching the ballot. Kuehn called for the invalidation of signatures on both petitions, which he argues could undermine the integrity of the certification process.
Attorney Anne Mackin filed a request on behalf of Kuehn to stop vote counting, suggesting that the ongoing litigation could invalidate the measures. One measure seeks to legalize medical cannabis (the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Protection Act), while the other would regulate the industry (the Medical Cannabis Regulation Act).
Judge Strong found insufficient evidence that Kuehn was likely to prevail, reported Nebraska Examiner. Strong highlighted the “status quo” as counting votes on Election Day this Tuesday, stating that Secretary of State Bob Evnen certified the measures and that voting had already begun.
Read Also: Nebraska Medical Cannabis Legalization Heads Into November Election Amid Signature Controversy
Deputy Solicitor General Zach Viglianco noted potential election integrity issues but acknowledged that reprogramming ballot machines to prevent counting would be difficult.
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Trials And Tribulations
After two unsuccessful attempts, in 2020 and again in 2022, to place the medical marijuana question on the ballot, the cannabis legalization advocate group achieved the required number of signatures this year, totaling close to 115,000, surpassing the 86,500 needed.
Crista Eggers, campaign manager of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, an organization behind the legalization push, said, “This [medical cannabis legalization] is an issue that is supported by 81% of people all across the state.”
In the meantime, accusations of fraudulent signature gathering have been raised, with state officials claiming that nearly 49,000 of the 115,000 signatures gathered are questionable.
Michael Egbert, a Grand Island man who was involved in gathering signatures for the petition, was charged with falsifying signatures. Egbert, alongside Jennifer Henning who was also a paid circulator petitioner said on the stand last week that did not follow the law during the signature gathering.
Daniel Gutman, attorney on behalf of the ballot sponsors, told Strong it “would be a travesty of democracy to halt an election off of the testimony of Michael Egbert or Jennifer Henning, and that’s essentially what the request is.”
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