| The Weed Blog |
Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler announced on Thursday that the proposed ballot measure concerning “Use and Regulation of Marijuana” will require a line-by-line review of all signatures.
Petitions for proposed Initiative 30, Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, were submitted to the Secretary of State’s office on January 4. The office immediately began verifying a random sample of the signatures, as required by state law. Section 1-40-116(4), C.R.S., requires the verification of every signature filed if the random sample shows the number of valid signatures falls between 90 percent and 110 percent of the signatures needed.
| Daily KOS |
| Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler’s office said it will examine every signature submitted for I-30, Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol |
According to Secretary of State Gessler’s Random Sample Summary:
• Total number of signatures submitted: 163,598
• Five percent of qualified signatures submitted (random sample): 8,180
• Total number of entries accepted (valid) from random sample: 4,436
• Total number of entries rejected (invalid) from random sample: 3,744
• Number of projected valid signatures from random sample: 88,719
• Total number of accepted entries necessary for placement on ballot: 86,105
• Percentage of presumed valid signatures: 103.04 percent
As you can see by the three bolded lines above, it appears likely that I-30 will make the November 2012 ballot in Colorado, if the random sample is an accurate representation of all 163,598 signatures.
Because the 103 percent projection falls between the 90 and 110 percent described in state law, the Secretary of State’s office has notified the proponents the petition will require a line-by-line review.
The office has until February 3 to complete the review.
Secretary of State Gessler’s office bears close watching during the line-by-line signature review process; Gessler doesn’t seem particularly invested in Coloradans’ voting rights, since, according to Joan McCarter at the Daily KOS, he barred overseas soldiers from voting in the November 2011 election.
To read the full text of Initiative 30, Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, click here.
