The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled on Monday that votes for an initiative to expand the state’s medical cannabis program will not be counted after the title of the ballot measure was found to be likely to mislead voters. The court ruled in a 4-3 decision to disregard votes for the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Amendment (Issue 3), which would have increased the number of conditions that qualify a patient to use cannabis medicinally and other changes to the state’s medical cannabis program.
“This decision doomed the proposed ballot title, and it is plainly misleading,” Justice Shawn Womack wrote in the majority opinion, according to a report from the Associated Press.
Early voting began in Arkansas on Monday, so it is too late to remove the proposed constitutional amendment to expand the medical cannabis program from the ballot for next month’s election. Because of this, the Supreme Court decision instructs election officials not to count the votes cast for the proposal on election day.
Had it passed, Issue 3 would have expanded Arkansas’ medical cannabis program by increasing the number of medical conditions that qualify a patient to use medical cannabis. The proposal also would have widened the definition of healthcare professionals authorized to recommend medical cannabis to patients and extended the validity of state medical cannabis identification cards from one to three years.
Court Rules Ballot Title Is Misleading
The court ruled in favor of Protect Arkansas Kids, a group that joined a legal challenge against Issue 3, while rejecting the original complaint filed by Secretary of State John Thurston. The court ruled that the ballot measure’s title did not adequately inform voters that the amendment would have blocked the state legislature’s ability to change Amendment 98, the 2016 constitutional amendment that legalized medical cannabis in Arkansas.
“The ballot title misleads voters because it omits language stating that the proposed amendment would repeal the General Assembly’s authority to amend Amendment 98 (i.e., omits material information). The proposed amendment alters or amends Amendment 98 in at least twenty different ways,” the opinion reads, Little Rock Public Radio reported.
The state Supreme Court also ruled that the title of the ballot measure did not fully inform voters that the measure would automatically legalize the possession of up to one ounce of cannabis by adults for any purpose if the federal government ends its prohibition of cannabis. The decision maintains that since the provision would also apply to residents who do not have a recommendation for medical cannabis, the ballot measure is misleading because its title only mentions “medical marijuana.”
Justice Cody Hiland wrote in a dissenting opinion that by ruling the ballot title’s wording was misleading, the court was ignoring decades of precedent.
“Long ago, this court established definitive standards for evaluating the sufficiency of popular names and ballot titles,” Hiland wrote. “This court has not deviated from those standards until today.”
Arkansans for Patient Access, the group supporting the ballot measure, said it would continue working to expand the state’s medical cannabis program. The campaign added that more than 90,000 signatures were collected to place the signature on the ballot, indicating broad support for the proposed changes.
“This is a setback for the growth and improvement of our existing program, but it will not be the last attempt to ease the barriers Arkansas’s medical patients encounter. We will continue our fight to eliminate hurdles to access and lower costs. Patients across Arkansas have made it clear they want to build on the existing foundation; unfortunately, the anti-marijuana politicians have ignored their call. The people rule, our state motto, does not ring true today,” the statement reads.
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