cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Petition Fails To Qualify in Nevada





Marijuana Petition Fails To Qualify in Nevada
Posted by CN Staff on September 01, 2004 at 14:45:51 PT
By Brendan Riley, Associated Press 
Source: Associated Press 
Carson City, Nev. -- A review of petitions to ban public employees serving in the Nevada Legislature and legalize small amounts of marijuana shows both lack enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot, Secretary of State Dean Heller said Wednesday. Heller said the public employees petition had 44,548 valid signatures, while the marijuana petition had 49,412 names. Each needed a minimum of 51,227.
The examination was prompted following U.S. District Judge Jim Mahan's recent ruling against a state requirement that a petition must qualify with the signatures of at least 10 percent of voters in 13 of the state's 17 counties. Heller ordered county clerks to verify all the signatures attached to the two petitions, along with a third calling for the repeal of a record $833 million Nevada tax increase. Heller announced Monday that the tax petition had failed to qualify. The marijuana initiative was sponsored by the Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana and would have legalized possession of up to 1 ounce of marijuana by adults in Nevada. "We expected this would happen but we just didn't expect it would be such a large margin," said committee spokeswoman Jennifer Knight. She added the loss of several hundred signatures just in the Reno area "sends up a red flag." But Knight also said a pending case in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could revive the marijuana petition. She said it's now about 1,900 signatures short of the minimum needed - and a victory in the federal appeals court would add more than that just from the Las Vegas area. The public employees initiative stems from controversy over full-time government employees also serving in Nevada's part-time Legislature. It could have affected as many as 16 of the state's 63 legislators. "We don't believe there's a conspiracy. It's just bureaucrats run amok and they're capriciously and arbitrarily throwing out signatures without any rhyme or reason," said George Harris of Nevadans for Sound Government, which sought the vote on restricting public employees' service in the Legislature. Harris said election officials have a responsibility to "give the benefit of the doubt to the voters. ... The worst thing I can think of is the very first experience for registered voters to have is to have their signature or their vote thrown out. That's what causes all this apathy." Complete Title: Marijuana, Public Employees Petitions Fail To Qualify in NevadaSource: Associated Press Author: Brendan Riley, Associated Press Published:  September 1, 2004Copyright: 2004 The Associated Press Related Articles & Web Site:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Marijuana Initiative: Backers Cry Foul http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19373.shtmlFederal Judge Throws Lifeline To Pot Initiativehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19332.shtmlJudge Keeps Legalized Pot Issue Alivehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19331.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #4 posted by FoM on September 02, 2004 at 12:52:21 PT
Druid
Thank you. That helps clear it up. I didn't know that either.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by Druid on September 02, 2004 at 12:47:25 PT
News from the MPP about Nevada
 Nevada gov't continues to fight marijuana initiative, case moves to Ninth Circuit As expected, the Nevada government announced yesterday that the
Marijuana Policy Project's marijuana regulation initiative fell 1,815
signatures short of the 51,377 signatures that are needed to qualify
the initiative for the November 2 ballot.This came as no surprise, because Nevada's corrupt elections officials
illegally disqualified thousands of signatures from people who filled
out voter registration forms on the same day they signed our
petitions ... and because their recount procedures were horribly
sloppy and unjust.Fortunately, yesterday's announcement is largely irrelevant, because
we have appealed the same-day registration issue to the Ninth U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals. If we win in the Ninth Circuit, our
initiative will be placed on the ballot. The Ninth Circuit will be ruling on our lawsuit no later than
September 7 -- and this court battle is the final battle. (There
will be no time for MPP or our government opponents to appeal to the
U.S. Supreme Court.)So that we can afford to fight hard in this lawsuit, please visit
http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate1032 to help us mount the
strongest legal challenge possible.If we win in court next week, the court will almost surely require the
Nevada government to reimburse us for our attorneys' fees ... which
means all of the money you donate to this case will then be recycled
and used for the initiative campaign itself.If approved by Nevada voters, MPP's initiative would make history. If
enacted, the law would remove all penalties for marijuana use by
adults aged 21 and older, as well as require the state government to
authorize a system for the legal cultivation, distribution, and sale
of marijuana to adults.Since the Nevada government first began attempting to keep MPP's
initiative off the ballot two months ago, we've had to fight on every
front, every day. Nevada's elections officials openly broke the law
during the recent recount of MPP's initiative signatures ... refusing
to give us copies of our petitions so that we could check the validity
of the government workers' recount ... and refusing to allow our
campaign staffers to observe the recount process -- even though this
right was granted to other initiative campaigns!But despite the outrageous corruption that MPP has been up against,
we've been winning most of our battles ... including two of our three
charges against the Nevada government in a recent federal court
decision, which threw out part of Nevada's constitution.We are now within reach of victory. Our chances of prevailing next
week in the Ninth Circuit are good ... and a win will finally and
definitively place our initiative on the November 2 ballot ... but we
need your help.According to MPP's records, you have not yet made a financial donation
to MPP (or the tax-deductible MPP Foundation) in 2004. Would you
please consider visiting http://www.RegulateMarijuana.org/donate1032
to donate $10 or more today, so that we can do what it takes to win
this battle?Thank you,Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.P.S. I hope you will also volunteer for MPP's medical marijuana
initiative campaign in Montana, which you can do from the comfort of
your own home. Please visit http://www.mpp.org/volunteer to sign up
for our new online phone-banking program. All you need is a phone, a
computer, and a few spare hours.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by FoM on September 01, 2004 at 21:14:14 PT
ron
I wish I could answer you but I don't know. Maybe a more detailed article will be out tomorrow and we'll understand it better.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by ron on September 01, 2004 at 17:43:14 PT
Does this refer to the 6000 lost signatures?
(Spokeswoman Jennifer Knight) said it's now about 1,900 signatures short of the minimum needed - and a victory in the federal appeals court would add more than that just from the Las Vegas area. 
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment