cannabisnews.com: Marijuana Initiative May Make Ballot





Marijuana Initiative May Make Ballot
Posted by CN Staff on September 26, 2003 at 07:33:32 PT
By Nicole Tsong, Anchorage Daily News
Source: Anchorage Daily News 
A Superior Court ruling makes it more likely that voters will be asked next fall to legalize marijuana in Alaska.Anchorage Judge John Suddock ruled Tuesday that the Division of Elections was wrong to reject, on technical reasons, nearly 200 initiative petition booklets filled with thousands of signatures. Those booklets can't be disqualified based on reporting glitches if it doesn't affect the validity of the signatures, he said.
"Violence would be done to the right to initiative precisely if that regulatory scheme were here strictly enforced," Suddock wrote. Sponsors say they submitted 484 petition signature booklets with more than 50,000 signatures in November. Lt. Gov. Loren Leman, who oversees elections, tossed out the petition, saying that only 21,737 of the 28,742 signatures needed were certified, according to the lawsuit the sponsors filed.Suddock ordered the Elections Division to recount the nearly 200 disqualified booklets. He said elections officials knew the marijuana initiative drive had some reporting problems but didn't advise sponsors on how to fix them.For example, petitioners did not report to elections officials all the booklets and who was circulating them at the right time, so some were disqualified. "The division was, at least, asleep at the switch," the judge wrote.Attorney Kenneth Jacobus, who represented the plaintiffs, said the decision means the initiative "pretty much will be on the ballot." Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/erred.htmSource: Anchorage Daily News (AK)Author: Nicole Tsong, Anchorage Daily NewsPublished: September 26, 2003Copyright: 2003 The Anchorage Daily News Contact: letters adn.com Website: http://www.adn.com/ Related Articles & Web Site:Free Hemp in Alaskahttp://www.freehempinak.org/Judge Orders Leman To Reconsider MJ Initiativehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17402.shtmlMarijuana Initiative Sponsors Suing Statehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15306.shtmlLeman Disqualifies Marijuana Petition http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15194.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by Jose Melendez on September 26, 2003 at 07:47:43 PT
attention barristers
"Violence would be done to the right to initiative precisely if that regulatory scheme were here strictly enforced," apply that to Ashcroft in the supreme Court, please
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