The Secretary of State has finished counting the signatures for State Question 788, the medical marijuana initiative and found it has enough to make it to the ballot. However, the process is yet to be finished.
Secretary Chris Benge said his office counted 67,761 signatures. A total of 65,987 was needed to qualify for the ballot.
Time is running out of SQ 788 to make the November 6 ballot. The secretary of state’s office will send its report to the Oklahoma Supreme Court which will determine if the signatures are sufficient to be placed on the ballot. The ball then moves to Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt who will have five business days to review the ballot title. If it doesn’t meet compliance to the initiative petition regulations, he will have ten business days to rewrite it. The public also has a chance to challenge the signatures and the proposed ballot title.
The State Election Board will need to print the ballots soon.
If SQ 788 fails to make it to the November ballot, it could be another two years before voters will have a chance to decide the issue. A special election could be called by the Governor, but that’s not likely due to the expense of such an election.
