A group behind an initiative to legalize recreational marijuana says they’re confident they have collected enough signatures to place their proposal on the November ballot for a public vote.
South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws says they will submit their signatures to South Dakota Secretary of State Monae Johnson tomorrow, the state’s deadline. The group says they will submit well more than the 35,017 signatures required for the measure to be voted on during the November presidential election. Before the measure can be officially certified for the ballot, the state must verify that enough of the signatures are from registered South Dakota voters.
In 2020, South Dakotans for Better Marijuana Laws successful placed a marijuana legalization initiative on the November ballot, with it receiving support from 54% of voters. Due to a technicality in the initiative’s language, the measure was thrown out by state courts.
A subsequent effort in 2022 that addressed the court’s issues also made the ballot, but failed with 47% support amid lower voter turnout given it was not a presidential election.
According to polling release last month, a plurality of voters in the state support legalizing marijuana, 45% to 42%. Although support for legalization was 2% lower than support for the 2022 initiative, opposition to legalization was 10% lower than opposition to the 2022 initiative. Based on this data, just 28% of those who remain undecided would need to vote in favor of a legalization initiative for it to pass.
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