A Florida judge has sided with Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) administration and upheld a move to invalidate about 200,000 signatures in support of a marijuana legalization initiative that an industry-funded campaign is seeking to place on the state’s 2026 ballot.
Smart & Safe Florida filed the lawsuit against Secretary of State Cord Byrd and Leon County Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley in Florida’s Second Judicial Circuit last month, contesting the secretary’s claims that signature verification criteria render invalid any petitions that didn’t include the full text of the initiative.
While the ruling from Circuit Court Judge John Cooper on Friday didn’t focus on that particular issue, it did agree with the state that a formatting revision to the campaign’s petition—putting a link to its site with the full text of the proposed initiative on the back of the form—was an unapproved change.
The invalidation of about 200,000 petitions that were filled out on that revised form would cut nearly a third of signatures from the campaign’s current total. Smart & Safe Florida has already vowed to appeal the decision.
“We fervently but respectfully disagree with this ruling and fully intend to appeal it as voters deserve and overwhelmingly want to
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