Nebraska’s highest court has upheld a pair of voter-endorsed medical marijuana measures, dismissing a legal effort that argued that fraud tainted the petition campaign that placed them before voters in 2024.
In a unanimous 7-0 ruling, Jeffrey Funke, the Chief Justice, said a Lancaster County judge was correct to conclude that supporters had gathered sufficient valid signatures. The 49-page decision rejected claims brought by John Kuehn, a former senator in the state and a vocal critic of medical cannabis, along with arguments advanced by state AG Mike Hilgers and Bob Evnen, the Secretary of State.
The challengers alleged widespread misconduct by petition circulators and notaries. Hilgers said Friday he disagreed with the ruling, calling it a setback for election integrity, but acknowledged that his office would comply with the decision.
Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana’s Crista Eggers said the case had ultimately tested whether elected officials in the state could use litigation to overturn a decision made by voters. She said the ruling confirmed that they could not.
The dispute centered partly on whether misconduct by one notary could undermine signatures appearing on other petition pages that the same authorized notary handled. Funke said notaries and circulators have distinct responsibilities and that Nebraska law did not require courts to automatically invalidate all signatures associated with a notary because of isolated wrongdoing.
The justices also rejected a broad use of a 1919 precedent involving fraudulent petition activity tied to women’s voting rights. They found the evidence here did not demonstrate misconduct extensive enough to invalidate large numbers of signatures.
A Lancaster County judge had previously determined that roughly 1,500 signatures across the two initiatives lost their presumption of validity. Even so, the total remained more than sufficiently in excess of the mandatory threshold. The campaigners had over 6,800 validated signatures beyond the minimum needed when the measures were certified for the 2024 ballot.
Two justices issued concurring opinions. William Cassel said stronger evidence of systematic notarial misconduct could justify requiring additional proof that signatures were indeed valid, while Stephanie Stacy questioned whether courts should routinely consider certain pre-election challenges after voters have already cast their ballots.
The ruling arrives as Nebraska’s Medical Cannabis Commission continues work on regulations governing the voter-approved program. The commission is also preparing rules allowing application fees for future licenses, following authority granted by lawmakers this year.
The decision comes amid a separate investigation into alleged petition fraud involving several Nebraska initiatives in the 2026 election. Authorities in Lancaster County are investigating, with multiple out-of-state petition circulators arrested in connection with the Lincoln effort.
Despite Friday’s ruling, Hilgers maintained his criticism of the 2024 campaign. Eggers, meanwhile, said the legal fight should now end and urged state officials to focus on implementing the medical cannabis laws approved by voters.
The wider marijuana industry, including leading firms like SNDL Inc. (NASDAQ: SNDL), will be glad that the legal challenge that threatened to derail the medical marijuana program in Nebraska has now been resolved and the state can move forward with its implementation plans.
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