US EditionCourt sides with Florida in tossing 70,000 ballot petition signatures
The appeals court upheld invalidations of over 70,000 signatures to prevent petition fraud, challenging Smart & Safe Florida's bid to reach 880,062 valid signatures by Feb. 1 deadline.
- On Friday, a three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal rejected Smart & Safe Florida political committee's challenge, allowing invalidation of about 70,000 petition signatures and requiring at least 880,062 valid signatures by Feb. 1 to qualify for the November ballot.
- The challenge centers on two directives: a Dec. 23 directive invalidated 41,894 signatures from `inactive` voters, and another targeted 28,752 signatures by out-of-state petition gatherers, involving U.S. District Judge Mark Walker and the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
- The appeals court explained Secretary of State Cord Byrd had statutory authority to direct supervisors, and Judge Lori Rowe's opinion found nothing unlawful about the written directions, rejecting Circuit Judge Jonathan Sjostrom's ruling.
- On Monday, the Division of Elections website updated totals to 760,002 valid signatures from 714,888 on Sunday as Smart & Safe Florida filed emergency motions seeking full-court review.
- With rules now tougher, including a ban on non-Florida resident circulators, the 2024 ballot proposal failed after Gov. Ron DeSantis helped defeat it; the amendment would allow adults ages 21 and older recreational marijuana use.
10 Articles
10 Articles
State investigators open criminal probe on alleged fraudulent signatures supporting marijuana initiative in Broward County - WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports
The battle over placing a recreational marijuana amendment on the statewide ballot once again continued as investigators for the state of Florida visited the office of the Broward Supervisor of Elections in connection to alleged fraudulent signatures, Monday. After the amendment to legalize marijuana came up short of the 60% threshold required during the 2024 election, the group Smart & Safe Florida began gathering signatures from supporters for…
Signatures to back Florida recreational-marijuana constitutional amendment reaches 760,002
Amid a legal battle about updating the numbers, the state Division of Elections website Monday said backers of a proposed recreational-marijuana constitutional amendment had submitted 760,002 valid petition signatures as they try to put the measure on the November ballot. That was up from 714,888 valid signatures shown on the website Sunday. The Smart & Safe Florida political committee faces a Feb. 1 deadline for submitting 880,062 valid signatu…
The Scoop: Mon. Jan. 26, 2026 Tampa Bay and Florida headlines by WMNF
An appeals court rejects a challenge to invalidate recreational marijuana signatures The Smart & Safe Florida political committee is trying to submit enough petition signatures by a February 1 deadline to put the pot proposal on the November ballot. It filed an emergency motion Sunday for the full appeals court to consider the case. DeSantis signs another death warrant Melvin Trotter is scheduled to be executed on February 24 and could be the se…
Tallahassee Reports
News Service of FloridaState Backed in Pot Petitions Fight
By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida Dealing a blow to supporters of a proposed recreational-marijuana constitutional amendment, an appeals court has rejected a challenge to directives by Secretary of State Cord Byrd to invalidate more than 70,000 petition signatures. A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal on Friday issued a 10-page opinion that sided with Byrd in a lawsuit filed by the Smart & Safe Florida political com…
Appeals court sides with state in battle to get marijuana amendment on November ballot
An appeals court rejected a challenge to directives by Florida's secretary of state to invalidate 70,000 petition signatures gathered by Smart & Safe Florida for a recreational pot amendment.
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