LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas Supreme Court on Monday blocked votes from being counted for a ballot initiative that would have expanded medical marijuana in the state, ruling that the proposal's language was misleading.
In a 4-3 decision, justices ruled that the measure did not fully inform voters of the impact it would have had on a 2016 constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana. This year's proposed constitutional amendment would have broadened the definition of medical professionals who can certify patients for medical cannabis, expanded qualifying conditions and made medical cannabis cards valid for three years.
The measure will still appear on the ballot since the certification deadline has passed, but election officials will not count any votes cast for it. Early voting began Monday in Arkansas.
In the same ruling, justices rejected election officials' reasons for ruling the measure's organizers fell short of the signatures required for putting the measure on the ballot.
Justices on Monday said the ballot measure did not inform voters that it would have stripped the Legislature's ability to change the 2016 medical marijuana amendment.
“This decision doomed the proposed ballot title, and it is plainly misleading,” Justice Shawn Womack wrote in the majority opinion.
The court also said the measure did not inform voters that, if approved, the amendment would legalize up to an ounce of marijuana possession for any purpose if marijuana becomes legal under federal law.
Arkansans for Patient Access, the group behind the measure, said it would keep pushing to expand the medical marijuana program and that the signatures it gathered showed widespread support.
“We are deeply disappointed in the Court’s decision,” the group said in a statement. “It seems politics has triumphed over legal precedent.”
Arkansans for Patient Access sued after Secretary of State John Thurston said the group fell short of the signatures needed to qualify for the ballot. The issue over the ballot measure's wording was raised by Protect Arkansas Kids, a group opposed to the measure that had intervened in the case.
Thurston’s office had declined to count some of the signatures submitted, asserting the group had not followed paperwork rules regarding paid signature gatherers.
The state rejected petitions submitted in favor of an anti-abortion ballot measure earlier this year on similar grounds.
The state in July determined the group had fallen short of the required signatures but qualified for 30 additional days to circulate petitions. But the state then told the group that any additional signatures gathered by paid signature gatherers would not be counted if required information was submitted by the canvassing company rather than sponsors of the measure.
The court on Thursday said that decision was wrong, saying state law allows a wide range of people to be considered sponsors of the measure.
In a dissent, Justice Cody Hiland said the court was ignoring decades-long precedent by ruling the measure's wording was misleading.
"Long ago, this court established definitive standards for evaluating the sufficiency of popular names and ballot titles," Hiland wrote. "This court has not deviated from those standards until today."
About half of U.S. states allow recreational marijuana and a dozen more have legalized medical marijuana. Those numbers could grow after the November election. Voters in Florida, North Dakota and South Dakota will decide whether to legalize recreational marijuana for adults, and two medical marijuana proposals will be on Nebraska’s ballot.
Andrew Demillo, The Associated Press
