Nevada Marijuana Group Appeals Ballot Ruling
The Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana, which is trying to get an initiative to legalize marijuana in Nevada on the November ballot, has asked for a rehearing of an appeals-court decision that disqualified the petition, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Sept. 11.
"We saw there was one more opportunity and we decided to take it," said Jennifer Knight, communications director for the Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana. "It is something we felt we should do for the voters."
At issue are about 2,000 critical signatures. The appeals court ruled that they were not of registered voters because the people registered to vote on the same day they signed the marijuana petition. Under Nevada law, a voter is not officially registered until the application is received by the appropriate election department.
In a 2-1 decision, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the committee's appeal. However, the marijuana group and the American Civil Liberties Union have requested a rehearing before a full panel of judges.
"Ultimately, we decided to have this issue thoroughly discussed by a larger panel of judges because the dissenting opinion was so much more compelling than the majority ruling," Knight said.
The ballot initiative would make adult possession of an ounce of marijuana or less legal.
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