{"id":81398,"date":"2025-05-28T09:34:07","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T17:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2025\/05\/28\/oklahoma-marijuana-activists-say-new-ballot-restrictions-signed-by-governor-wont-stop-their-legalization-push\/"},"modified":"2025-05-28T19:47:26","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T03:47:26","slug":"oklahoma-marijuana-activists-say-new-ballot-restrictions-signed-by-governor-wont-stop-their-legalization-push","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2025\/05\/28\/oklahoma-marijuana-activists-say-new-ballot-restrictions-signed-by-governor-wont-stop-their-legalization-push\/","title":{"rendered":"Oklahoma Marijuana Activists Say New Ballot Restrictions Signed By Governor Won\u2019t Stop Their Legalization Push"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

Oklahoma activists say they won\u2019t be deterred in their latest push to put marijuana legalization on the state ballot<\/a> by a new law the Republican governor signed to significantly restrict the state\u2019s citizen initiative process.<\/p>\n

Just about two months after the group Oklahomans for Responsible Cannabis Action (ORCA) revived their push to end prohibition in the state, filing an initiative for the 2026 ballot to create an adult-use marijuana program, Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) gave final approval to legislation that some advocates worry will inhibit future citizen-led policy changes, including cannabis reform.<\/p>\n

The newly enacted law would put additional requirements on initiative \u201cgist\u201d language that voters see on the ballot and also revise policies around signature gathering to make it so petitioners could only submit signatures from up to 11.5 percent of registered voters in a single county for statutory proposals and 20.8 percent for constitutional measures.<\/p>\n

In theory, that could seriously complicate the task of getting enough signatures to qualify any measure for the ballot\u2014perhaps especially for a cannabis legalization campaign where the expectation is that advocates would be collecting a large portion of signatures from more populous, left-leaning counties. Now there\u2019s an explicit limitation on how many petitions can be signed in those jurisdictions.<\/p>\n

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But ORCA founder Jed Green said on Monday that this isn\u2019t a fatal blow to the campaign, even if lawmakers who supported the ballot restriction legislation have now been assigned a \u201cDouble-F\u201d grade for impairing the ability of voters to decide on key policy issues.<\/p>\n

Green suggested that getting the ballot proposal filed ahead of the legislature\u2019s vote and governor\u2019s signing of the bill<\/a> could help ORCA potentially avert challenges associated with the more stringent requirements for initiative summary language. He said that was a deliberate decision, as the group \u201cwanted to go ahead and get in line and get filed before lawmakers made this error in judgment.\u201d<\/p>\n

That said, he recognized the hypothetical possibility that the state attorney general could move to contest the language, which has \u201cthe potential to get real messy.\u201d But considering that the secretary of state approved the gist of an earlier, 2023 version of the legalization proposal that voters ultimately rejected<\/a>, Green floated the possibility of bringing him in as a witness in any challenge to defend the legality of the summary.<\/p>\n

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\u201cNow there\u2019s not a chance the [attorney general] is going to screw us,\u201d he said. \u201cLet me be crystal clear about something on this: We\u2019re not getting screwed, guys. This process is nothing like what we deal with with lawmakers here. This is a wholly separate animal, and I\u2019ve got a shit ton of experience doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n

In social media posts, ORCA has similarly expressed frustration over the newly enacted law\u2014but also confidence that they will be able to overcome the procedural obstacles.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot to worry y\u2019all. The team here at ORCA has a couple decades of experience with this process,\u201d it said on Monday, sharing a link to a story about the ballot initiative law. \u201cThis attempt to take away your rights and duplicate government will not age well!\u201d<\/p>\n

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A group working on a separate initiative to institute open primary elections in the state has signaled that it will challenge the new ballot restriction law with litigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cSB 1027 is bad policy,\u201d Margaret Kobos, founder and CEO of Oklahoma United, said<\/a>. \u201cIt suppresses voter input, makes it harder for Oklahomans to hold their elected officials accountable, and sends the message that those in power don\u2019t trust the people who put them there. SB 1027 does nothing but prove that Oklahomans\u2019 long held distrust of state government is well-earned.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what ORCA\u2019s latest marijuana legalization initiative would accomplish:<\/strong><\/p>\n