Nebraska’s Republican attorney general said Friday that supporters of two measures to legalize medical marijuana could have submitted at least “several thousand” invalid signatures to get them on the ballot, suggesting that the issue ultimately could keep the proposals from becoming law.
Attorney General Mike Hilgers made the statement during a Zoom news conference in which he and a local prosecutor announced a felony charge against a petition circulator from Grand Island over fraudulent signatures on 38 pages for the two separate initiatives.
Although the issue was “localized,” Hilgers said there were other irregularities implicating many other signatures and the defendant has not been involved in circulating petitions outside Nebraska.
Hilgers immediately faced questions about the timing of his announcement, coming on the last day for the secretary of state’s office to certify initiatives for the November ballot. Hilgers and other conservative Republicans oppose the measures, but Hilgers said petitions for any initiatives would get similar scrutiny.
Earlier this year, officials accused two petition circulators of forging voter signatures during campaigns to put an abortion rights measure to a vote in Florida and to allow the No Labels party to put candidates on the Kansas ballot. Neither successful petition drive appears to have depended on the signatures the two submitted.
Hilgers said he informed Secretary of State Bob Evnen of the finding of his office’s investigation but Evnen, also a Republican, would have to do his own analysis. However, the attorney general said that even if the initiatives are certified now for the ballot, a court could remove them later, block the counting of votes on them or invalidate the new laws because of the irregularities.
An email and phone call to Evnen’s spokesperson seeking comment about his plans were not immediately returned.
“We have identified a number of irregularities,” Hilgers told reporters. “Our work is still ongoing.”
Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana gathered more than 114,000 signatures — well more than the approximately 86,000 needed — for each of two petitions: one that would allow marijuana for medical use and the other to regulate the medical marijuana industry in the state.
It’s the third effort by Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana to get the issue on the ballot. Emails to the group seeking comment were not immediately returned.
In May, the federal government began a process to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug.
Dozens of states have legalized marijuana for either medical or recreational use, most recently in Ohio last November. This fall, voters will weigh in on legalizing recreational marijuana in North Dakota, South Dakota and Florida.
John Hanna, The Associated Press