A challenge to the voting initiative that seeks to repealing adult-use cannabis laws in Massachusetts was rejected Tuesday by the State Voting Law Commission, NBC Boston reports. The challenge from the Stop the Repeal campaign alleged that many signatures were “fraudulently obtained,” were not “genuine,” were “illegible” and excluded required addresses or included missing marks, and that the Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts failed to submit the required 12,429 certified signatures.
To keep the question from appearing on the November ballot, the commission would have had to agree to disqualify 123 signatures, but it concluded Stop the Repeal had not met its burden of proof that the signatures were illegally obtained or otherwise disqualifying.
The commission declined to disqualify 231 signatures because of the missing signs, saying the signs appear mostly on the back of petitions and “do not appear to be intentional signs and do not provide voters with any information.”
“Instead, they are erroneous pen marks that have no material effect on the remainder of the content of the petition.” – Massachusetts State Voting Law Commission via NBC Boston
The commission refused to invalidate another 99 signatures that Stop the Repeal argued were “non-genuine”, with one person signing multiple names. The commission said the campaign did not “prove by substantial evidence” that the signatures were signed by the same person.
The commission ordered the question to appear on the ballot in November.
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