South Dakota voters will not have the opportunity to vote on legalizing medical cannabis in the state after Secretary of State Shantel Krebs said the petition failed to gain enough valid signatures. The petition submitted had 15,157 signatures total but a random sampling found just 62.48 percent were valid.
The office determined that just 9,470 signatures were valid – short of the 13,871 required to put the issue to voters in November.
According to a press release from Krebs’ office, a rejected petition cannot be challenged to the Secretary of State’s Office; however, the denial could be challenged in circuit court.
This is the second election cycle that South Dakota cannabis activists have been pushed from the ballot. In 2016, a notary error forced an adult-use question from the ballot.
The medical cannabis law would have provided access to the program to patients with 13 specific qualifying conditions, allowed home grow and possession up to 3 ounces with a physician recommendation.
According to the Secretary of State’s Office, there were two adult-use petitions circulated in the state but neither was submitted by the deadline. One would have legalized cannabis possession without a tax-and-regulated system, while the other would have created a broad recreational cannabis industry.