Medical marijuana ballot initiative fails in Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) - Nebraska voters won’t see any measures about medical marijuana on their ballots in November.

Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen’s office announced Monday that the two initiatives failed to qualify for the ballot. Petitioners turned in 77,119 signatures for the cannabis regulation initiative and 77,843 signatures for the patient protections initiative, each falling short of the 86,776 signatures required.

Additionally, signatures were required to be gathered from at least 5% of registered voters from a minimum of 38 of Nebraska’s 93 counties, in accordance with Nebraska law. Evnen’s office reported that 27 counties met the 5% threshold, according to Monday’s release from Evnen’s office.

Petitioners were also required to have 7% of the necessary signatures by July 7; Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana turned in more than 90,000 signatures by that deadline.

“Certified letters have been mailed to the sponsors notifying them of the results of the signature review,” Evnen said in the release.

The state is still working through the signature verification for initiatives on Voter ID and the state’s minimum wage but expects to have them by the end of the month, the release states.

Crista Eggers of Gretna tells 6 News she is devastated by the news. Her son, Colton, suffers from uncontrollable epileptic seizures, and she says medical cannabis would have been a treatment that comes with fewer side effects than current drug cocktails.

Eggers, who has served as the campaign manager for Nebraskans for Medical Cannabis, said her intention is to refile and begin a plan of action to collect signatures again in order to get medical marijuana before the voters on the 2024 ballot.

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