Activists in Harker Heights, Texas have submitted enough signatures to put to a vote a referendum that would repeal the city council’s decision to override a recently approved marijuana decriminalization initiative.
Last months voters in Harker Heights, a city with a population of around 26,000, overwhelmingly passed an initiative (Proposition A) to decriminalize marijuana on the city level by a vote of 64% to 36%. In the same election, four other Texas cities passed similar measures.
Despite the voters making their voice clear on the issue, the Harker Heights City Council took a vote following the initiative’s passage to repeal the new law, effectively preventing it from taking effect.
“By voting to repeal Prop A, the Harker Heights City Council sent a clear message to their constituents that they don’t respect the will of the voters or the democracy they participate in,” said Julie Oliver, Executive Director of Ground Game Texas, the group behind the marijuana initiative. “These antidemocratic politicians are trying to throw away the votes of more than 5,000 Harker Heights residents — but we won’t let them.”
Oliver says that with this new referendum, “Ground Game Texas will ensure the will of voters isn’t trampled on by their local elected officials.”
At a press conference yesterday the group announced that they’ve submitted 600 signatures from registered voters on their referendum to repeal the council’s vote, well more than the 348 needed to put the issue to a vote of the people. However, the city will need to verify that enough of the 600 signatures are actually valid before the referendum can officially be placed on an upcoming ballot.
