Secretary of state disqualifies Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment over signature questions

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A measure looking to further open medical marijuana access in Arkansas looks to now be off the November 2024 ballot.

Officials with Arkansas Secretary of State John Thurston’s office sent a notice to Arkansans for Patient Access on Monday stating that the qualified signatures submitted during the extra “curing” period following the original deadline were not enough to place the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment in front of voters.

The letter from Thurston’s office stated that 10,521 of the new submissions “were deemed valid” and would be combined to the earlier total. However, the letter continued, that combined amount would only be 88,040, which falls below the threshold set for the November ballot of 90,704.

Leaders with Arkansans for Patient Access claim that the group had far surpassed the ballot threshold, saying they had submitted more than 150,000 signatures that came from every county in Arkansas.

The group also claimed that the disqualification was for political reasons, saying that excluding 20,000 signatures collected during the cure period, because of what the group said was “an arbitrary, last-minute clerical rule change,” was “contrary to the democratic process.”

Thurston’s letter to the group did not specify why certain signatures were disqualified in this case. A spokesperson for the secretary of state’s office said disqualification could happen for several reasons, including coming from someone who is not a registered voter, signed the petition in a county in which they don’t reside or the petition form being illegible.

Arkansans for Patient Access went on to promise that they would continue to pursue legal action against Thurston’s office regarding this decision.

This is the third time a ballot measure has faced challenges related to disqualified signatures during this election year.

Organizers of a measure to put an Arkansas abortion amendment in front of voters fought back and forth with Thurston’s office only to see the state supreme court rule against them in August.

Just a week ago, a brief was filed on behalf of Thurston’s office to seek that votes cast on the Amendment 2 ballot question not be counted. That effort looks to repeal the decision to grant a casino license in Pope Couty, among other rule changes.

Arkansans for Patient Access said they plan to file their lawsuit on Tuesday. Election Day in Arkansas is Tuesday, Nov. 5, 36 days from now.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.