Recreational Marijuana Petitioner Say They Have Enough Signatures to Make the Ballot

There are currently five ballot measures still being circulated for signatures to make the November ballot (and one currently under signature review). The deadline is July 9.

Today the organizers of one of those measures – the one to legalize recreational marijuana in the state – have said that they have enough signatures for the ballot.

“We will be on the ballot we have over 16,500 signatures,” Josh Dryer, one of the spokesman for the measure, told me in a message this afternoon.

The requisite number of signatures is 13,452.

Historically there are about 3 – 5 percent of signatures disqualified on turned-on ballot measures due to a variety of common reasons. Illegible handwriting and stuff like that. Barring some major problem with the petitions this issue should be on the ballot.

Assuming their signatures are also approved, the ethics commission ballot measure should also be before voters in November.

The measure currently under signature review would amend the state constitution to create an ethics commission.

Two ballot measures – one to repeal the state’s Sunday closing laws and the other to raise the minimum wage – are technically still out for circulation though their organizers have said they probably won’t make the deadline.

A third measure to create special license plates for volunteer first responders is also still being circulated. I don’t have an update on that petition.

A fourth measure, a constitutional amendment to explicitly ban non-citizen voting (which is already illegal by state statute) is also still out for signatures. Earlier this month organizer Gary Emineth (also a Republican candidate for the state Senate in Bismarck) told me they had about 15,000 signatures of the 26,904 required by law.