Backers of Nebraska marijuana ballot initiative dispute fraud claims

Sponsors of Nebraska’s medical marijuana ballot initiatives are disputing the secretary of state’s claims questioning the validity of nearly 100,000 signatures collected for two petitions.

In court filings obtained by the Nebraska Examiner, Secretary of State Bob Evnen and Attorney General Mike Hilgers questioned whether roughly 49,000 signatures on each of two MMJ petitions are valid.

Evnen certified the initiatives to legalize medical marijuana and set up a regulated MMJ market qualified for the November ballot on Sept. 13.

Early voting has already started in Nebraska, but now Evnen wants a Lancaster County District Court judge to determine how many signatures are valid and void the election results if there aren’t enough, the Nebraska Examiner reported.

According to attorneys for the three sponsors of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, Evnen has not said that there was “intentional wrongdoing,” as required by law, and doesn’t take into account legal precedents “in his efforts to disenfranchise tens of Nebraska voters.”

The measures qualified for the Nebraska ballot after Evnen confirmed nearly 90,000 valid signatures on each petition – more than the 86,499 required.

Meanwhile, Hilgers announced a statewide investigation into fraud, malfeasance and “irregularities” on the cannabis petitions the same day Evnen certified the ballot.

Hilgers has not announced investigations into the four other measures on the November ballot.

Former Nebraska state Sen. John Kuehn, also an ex-health board member, challenged the legal sufficiency of the ballot measures in a Sept. 12 lawsuit, naming Evnen and the three campaign sponsors.