Nebraska’s top election official and the state’s chief prosecutor are raising concerns about the validity of most signatures gathered for two medical marijuana petitions set to appear on the ballot this November. Mike Hilgers, Nebraska’s attorney general, who filed a legal motion on behalf of Bob Evnen, secretary of state, stated that inquiries are still being conducted to determine whether the 49,000-plus confirmed signatures on these petitions are authentic.
With early voting already underway on whether to legalize or regulate medical cannabis, Evnen and Hilger are urging the court to verify the total number of valid signatures and potentially nullify the election results if enough legitimate signatures are not confirmed.
In response, Nebraskans for Medical Cannabis criticized the state’s policies, stating that it is alarming that the state is attempting to silence Nebraskans based on largely speculative legal issues.
The legal filing accuses petition circulators of fraud or other misconduct in 72 of Nebraska’s 93 counties. Hilgers’ office claims that three notaries acted as both circulator and notary on an unspecified number of petitions, while six others notarized documents without witnessing the signatures in person, as required.
A total of eight notaries have been accused of misconduct. If the signatures collected by these individuals are disqualified, it could potentially void about 49,000 signatures on both the legalization and regulatory petitions.
Additionally, four circulators are accused of fraudulent activities, though the filing doesn’t specify the exact nature of the fraud. In total, about 656 signatures on each petition are at risk of being disqualified due to alleged fraud.
Hilgers argued that the burden of proving the signatures’ validity should fall on the petition sponsors, stating that when fraud or misconduct is discovered, any associated signatures lose their presumption of validity. His office is asking the court to take an even tougher stance than a 1919 state Supreme Court ruling that nullified signatures tied to fraudulent circulators during a referendum on women’s suffrage.
The investigation points to more than 30 people suspected of wrongdoing, including high rates of signature rejections. One sponsor involved is Crista Eggers, campaign manager for Nebraska Families 4 Medical Marijuana. As of now, no additional charges have been filed against any other circulators or notaries connected to the cannabis petitions.
This marks the third attempt by Nebraskans for Medical Cannabis to get the measure on the ballot. The organization’s first effort in 2020 was blocked by the state Supreme Court, and in 2022, the group failed to gather enough signatures. While several measures will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot this year, Evnen and Hilgers are focusing their scrutiny solely on the medical cannabis initiatives.
These efforts to block the passage of laws legalizing medical or recreational marijuana aren’t new. Companies such as Cresco Labs Inc. (CSE: CL) (OTCQX: CRLBF) have seen similar issues arise in different markets, but the reform movement scores gains sooner or later.
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