Advocates Submit Over 83,000 Voter Signatures to Qualify Marijuana Initiatives for the 2020 Ballot
South Dakota Secretary of State Steve Barnett (white shirt), MPP Deputy Director Matthew Schweich (blue blazer), and South Dakota campaign staff and volunteers stand alongside over 53,000 signatures being submitted to qualify the constitutional adult-use marijuana legalization ballot initiative.
With one year until Election Day 2020, the South Dakota campaigns to legalize medical marijuana and adult-use marijuana just took a major step towards ballot qualification.
Yesterday, South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws turned in over 53,000 voter signatures to qualify a constitutional adult-use legalization initiative for the 2020 ballot. On the same day, New Approach South Dakota submitted over 30,000 signatures to qualify a statutory medical marijuana initiative for the 2020 ballot.
Read more coverage of the turn-in from the Associated Press and Marijuana Moment.
The constitutional initiative requires 33,921 valid signatures, while the statutory initiative requires 16,961 valid signatures. The Secretary of State and his staff will now begin the process of verifying the signatures.
Both initiatives are expected to qualify, but there will be a tough campaign ahead. Despite significant support among a majority of voters, politicians in South Dakota have long resisted efforts to reform the state’s broken marijuana laws.
Make a contribution to South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws to ensure the campaign has the resources to achieve victory next year.