A group attempting to broaden access to medical marijuana in Arkansas says they have finished collecting signatures.
Arkansans for Patient Access is attempting to put an amendment on the ballot which, if approved by voters, would widely expand medical marijuana across the state. If the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment passes, it will allow the drug to be prescribed for almost all medical conditions, as opposed to the narrow list of conditions allowed for the drug now.
A month ago, Arkansans for Patient Access turned in well over the roughly 90,000 signatures needed to qualify for the ballot; in total, they turned in 111,402 signatures. Of those, 77,000 were deemed valid by Secretary of State John Thurston, whose office was tasked with counting and validating the signatures for all the proposed amendments. Under Arkansas law, if 75% of the initial signatures are deemed valid, groups are then given a 30-day “cure period” to collect more signatures.
Arkansans for Patient Access says they turned in over 38,000 additional signatures Friday morning. This would put them well over the threshold of signatures needed to go on the ballot; however, the amendment may not make it on the ballot over the same legal technicality used to throw out certain signatures collected for an amendment to legalize abortion.
A different group called Arkansans For Limited Government recently failed to get an amendment on the ballot to legalize abortion in Arkansas. Thousands of signatures collected by paid canvassers were tossed over a paperwork technicality. The Arkansas Supreme Court upheld the decision last week.
Along with the over 90,000 signatures they turned in, AFLG was required by state law to turn in a separate set of documents. After much legal back-and-forth, Arkansas Supreme Court Associate Justice Rhonda Wood ruled the group was missing paperwork, and state law prohibited some signatures from being counted.
The law says when you use paid canvassers you also have to turn in "a statement signed by the sponsor indicating that the sponsor… Provided a copy of the most recent edition of the Secretary of State's initiatives and referenda handbook to each paid canvasser before the paid canvasser solicited signatures."
Wood emphasized the words “each paid canvasser” in the law. She said “it is undisputed…that there was not a paid canvasser certification filed for each paid canvasser.”
AFLG turned in paid canvasser affidavits, but they were each signed by the canvassers and a notary public. They were not “each” signed by a sponsor.
Allegedly, Arkansans for Patient Access also failed to turn in a document matching that description. Secretary of State John Thurston wants to exclude paid signatures from the marijuana amendment on the same legal grounds as was decided by the abortion amendment. Arkansans for Patient Access disputes this claim.
In a letter on behalf of Arkansans for Patient Access, attorney Stephen Lancaster called on Thurston to count the signatures “so that the Arkansas Supreme Court can better assess whether the initiative should be certified for the ballot.” He said this request came “out of the interest of time and the preservation of taxpayer dollars.”
In a statement, group representatives vowed to continue their outreach efforts ahead of Election Day.
"Arkansans for Patient Access will work tirelessly until the polls close on November 5th to inform and educate voters. We are confident that when they learn the details of this amendment, they will enthusiastically support it."
