Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Petition Surpasses Signatures Needed

The effort to bring medical marijuana to a vote of the people reached a milestone Tuesday.

Oklahoma Secretary of State Chris Benge announced his office completed the counting of signatures for State Question 788. 

According to a news release, the secretary of state’s office counted a total of 67,761 signatures for the proposed state question.  It says a total of 65,987 signatures is needed for an initiative petition to be placed on an election ballot. That equates to eight percent of the 824,831 ballots cast in the 2014 gubernatorial election.

State Question 788 would amend and add to Oklahoma Statute Title 63, Public Health and Safety.

The petition still must satisfy other requirements before it can be placed on the ballot.

The law requires the secretary of state’s office to send a report on its findings to the Oklahoma Supreme Court. The state Supreme Court determines whether the number of signatures counted is sufficient for the proposal to be placed on an election ballot.

Oklahoma’s attorney general will have five business days to review the ballot title. If the proposed title is found non-compliant, the attorney general has 10 business days to submit a rewritten ballot title.

The next step will be notification to the media to announce publicly that any member of the public can challenge the signatures and/ or the proposed ballot title,  within 10 business days,.

When the measure has cleared all legal hurdles, it can be placed on a ballot for a vote of the people.

Oklahoma already has seven questions on the November 8 ballot.

8/22/2016: Related Story: Five More State Questions Added To November Ballot In Oklahoma