![](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank-63.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
A Florida campaign seeking to put marijuana legalization on the state\u2019s 2026 ballot has filed a new lawsuit against state officials, alleging that they improperly directed the invalidation of about 71,000 signatures as a turn-in deadline quickly approaches.<\/p>\n
Smart & Safe Florida has been fighting several legal battles this cycle to ensure that its initiative is able to qualify for ballot placement.<\/p>\n
The latest lawsuit, filed in the Leon County circuit court on Monday, claims Secretary of State Cord Byrd (R) directed county election officials to invalidate about 42,000 signatures from so-called \u201cinactive\u201d voters and roughly 29,000 signatures collected by out-of-state petitioners.<\/p>\n
This comes after another court upheld a previous decision to strike about 200,000 signatures that the state said were invalid because the petitions didn\u2019t include the full text of the proposed initiative. The campaign contested the legal interpretation, but it declined to appeal the decision based on their confidence they\u2019d collected enough signatures to make up the difference.<\/p>\n
Now, with a February 1 deadline to submit 880,062 valid signatures just about a month away, Smart & Safe Florida is signaling that the additional invalidations could jeopardize their chances of making the ballot. Currently, the state has validated 675,307 signatures.<\/p>\n
\u201cTime is of the essence,\u201d the new lawsuit says, according<\/a> to The News Service of Florida. \u201cThe Florida secretary of state has issued two unlawful directives that, unless stopped, will invalidate the citizen initiative petitions signed by more than 70,000 registered voters.\u201d<\/p>\n With respect to the \u201cinactive\u201d voters, the term refers to those who are registered but for whom mail is marked as undeliverable, resulting in their addresses being considered unconfirmed. This group can become unregistered if they don\u2019t vote in two consecutive general elections.<\/p>\n \u201cThe absurd result of the secretary\u2019s directive is that \u2018inactive\u2019 voters can vote for the proposed amendment but cannot have their petitions counted to place the proposed amendment on the ballot to vote for it,\u201d the lawsuit says.<\/p>\n The out-of-state petitioner issue, meanwhile, is about the enforcement of a law passed earlier this year barring non-Florida residents from collecting signatures. Amid legal challenges, a federal court issued an injunction blocking its enforcement for about two months before that injunction was stayed by another judge.<\/p>\n Smart & Safe Florida is arguing that signatures collected during the injunction window should not be invalidated, as they were lawfully obtained while the law was not in effect.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, earlier this month, Florida\u2019s attorney general asked the state Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of the legalization initiative<\/a>. The court accepted the request and set a schedule for state officials and the cannabis campaign to file briefs next month.<\/p>\n The campaign said last month that it\u2019d collected more than one million signatures to put the cannabis measure on the ballot, but it\u2019s also challenged officials at the state Supreme Court level over delays the certification process<\/a>, arguing that the review of the ballot content and summary should have moving forward months ago when it reached an initial signature threshold. The state then\u00a0agreed to move forward with the processing<\/a>.<\/p>\n Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) campaigned heavily against an earlier version of the legalization proposal, which received a majority of voters last year but not enough to meet the 60 percent threshold required to pass a constitutional amendment. Former Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) unsuccessfully contested the prior initiative in the courts.<\/p>\n In March, meanwhile, two Democratic members of Congress representing Florida asked the federal government to investigate\u00a0what they described as \u201cpotentially unlawful diversion\u201d of millions in state Medicaid funds<\/a>\u00a0via a group with ties to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). The money was used to fight against a citizen ballot initiative, vehemently opposed by the governor, that would have legalized marijuana for adults.<\/p>\n The lawmakers\u2019 letter followed allegations that a $10 million donation from a state legal settlement was improperly made to the Hope Florida Foundation, which later sent the money to two political nonprofits, which in turn sent $8.5 million to a campaign opposing Amendment 3.<\/p>\n The governor said in February that\u00a0the newest marijuana legalization measure is in \u201cbig time trouble\u201d with the state Supreme Court<\/a>, predicting it will be blocked from going before voters next year.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of different perspectives on on marijuana,\u201d DeSantis said. \u201cIt should not be in our Constitution. If you feel strongly about it, you have elections for the legislature. Go back candidates that you believe will be able to deliver what your vision is on that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut when you put these things in the Constitution\u2014and I think, I mean, the way they wrote, there\u2019s all kinds of things going on in here. I think it\u2019s going to have big time trouble getting through the Florida Supreme Court,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The latest\u00a0initiative<\/a>\u00a0was filed with the secretary of state\u2019s office just months after the initial version failed during the November 2024 election\u2014despite an endorsement from President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n Smart & Safe Florida is hoping the revised version will succeed in 2026. The campaign\u2014which in the last election cycle received tens of millions of dollars from cannabis industry stakeholders, principally the multi-state operator Trulieve\u2014incorporated certain changes into the new version that seem responsive to criticism opponents raised during the 2024 push.<\/p>\n For example, it now specifically states that the \u201csmoking and vaping of marijuana in any public place is prohibited.\u201dAnother section asserts that the legislature would need to approve rules dealing with the \u201cregulation of the time, place, and manner of the public consumption of marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n Last year, the governor accurately predicted that\u00a0the 2024 cannabis measure from the campaign would survive a legal challenge<\/a>\u00a0from the state attorney general. It\u2019s not entirely clear why he feels this version would face a different outcome.<\/p>\n While there\u2019s uncertainty around how the state\u2019s highest court will navigate the measure, a poll released in February\u00a0showed overwhelming bipartisan voter support for the reform<\/a>\u2014with 67 percent of Florida voters backing legalization, including 82 percent of Democrats, 66 percent of independents and 55 percent of Republicans.<\/p>\n \u2014 In the background, a recent poll from a Trump-affiliated research firm found that\u00a0nearly\u00a09 in 10 Florida voters say they should have the right to decide to legalize marijuana<\/a>\u00a0in the state.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a pro-legalization GOP state lawmaker recently filed a bill to amend state law to\u00a0codify that the public use of marijuana is prohibited<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rep. Alex Andrade (R), the sponsor, said earlier this year that\u00a0embracing cannabis reform is a way for the Republican party to secure more votes<\/a>\u00a0from young people.<\/p>\n Separately, Florida medical marijuana officials are\u00a0actively revoking the registrations of patients and caregivers with drug-related criminal records<\/a>. The policy is part of broad budget legislation signed into law earlier this year by DeSantis. The provisions in question direct the state Department of Health (DOH) to\u00a0cancel registrations of medical marijuana patients and caregivers<\/a>\u00a0if they\u2019re convicted of\u2014or plead guilty or no contest to\u2014criminal drug charges.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Florida Marijuana Campaign Sues State Over Invalidation Of 71,000 Signatures With Turn-In Deadline Weeks Away<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A Florida campaign seeking to put marijuana legalization on the state\u2019s 2026 ballot has filed a new lawsuit against state officials, alleging that they improperly directed the invalidation of about 71,000 signatures as a turn-in deadline quickly approaches. Smart & Safe Florida has been fighting several legal battles this cycleContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":84974,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84973"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84973"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":84975,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84973\/revisions\/84975"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMarijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills<\/a> in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters<\/a> pledging at least $25\/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don\u2019t miss any developments.<\/strong>
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank-62.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/a>
\nLearn more about our marijuana bill tracker<\/a> and become a supporter on Patreon<\/a> to get access.
\n\u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n
\nRead More: Florida Marijuana Campaign Sues State Over Invalidation Of 71,000 Signatures With Turn-In Deadline Weeks Away<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"