| Graphic: www.PostThisInc.com |
Washington’s I-1068, a voter initiative which would legalize marijuana in the Evergreen State, is coming down to the wire with a signature deadline looming on Friday, July 2.
So far initiative sponsors Sensible Washington have about 200,000 signatures, according to KNDO, but a bare minimum of 241,153 is needed to qualify for the ballot.
The state Elections Division urges campaigns to submit at least 300,000 signatures, allowing for a “pad” to cover duplicate or invalid signatures.
Supporters say they “have been getting a lot of petitions back in the mail every day,” according to David Ammons, spokesman for the secretary of state, reports Jordan Schrader at the Tacoma News Tribune.
| The Stranger |
| Philip Dawdy, Sensible Washington: “We might make it or we might just come up a bit short” |
”We are going to have to literally see what is in the mail Thursday and Friday, and see what gets turned in over the next 36 to 40 hours,” Sensible Washington campaign director Philip Dawdy said Wednesday.
“We might make it or we might just come up a bit short,” Dawdy said.
With a nod to the marijuana community, Sensible Washington has made an appointment to turn in signatures to the secretary of state’s office at 4:20 p.m. on Friday, reports Chris Grygiel at the Seattle P.I.
The late-in-the-day timing on deadline day will help organizers gather as many signatures as possible right up until the last minute.
According to Dawdy, the I-1068 campaign’s biggest weakness has been that there are no funds to hire paid signature gatherers.
Recent polls have shown a majority of state residents believe legalizing cannabis is a good idea — but to get the measure before the voters, it has to qualify for the ballot.
So while it’s heartbreaking to contemplate, it seems the only thing left standing between Washington state and legalized marijuana is about a million dollars to fund an initiative campaign.
If passed, the measure would remove state civil and criminal penalties for persons 18 years or older who cultivate, possess, transport, sell, or use marijuana. Restrictions and penalties for persons under 18 would remain in place.
