Medical marijuana, school choice expected to appear on Nebraska ballot

LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) - The Nebraska Secretary of State said Friday that both medical marijuana ballot initiatives and the school choice referendum are expected to appear on Nebraska ballots in November.

The Secretary of State said in a news release Friday that the petitions had not yet been certified but had met the signature requirements. That means the verification process will continue until the state hits its 110% verified signature threshold on each of the petitions.

“Our office is providing this update to keep voters informed of where county election offices are in the signature verification process,” Secretary Evnen said in the release. “Election workers are checking every voter’s signature on the remaining petitions, and we will have petitions verified before the September 13 deadline to certify the November ballot.”

Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana turned in more than 114,000 signatures on July 3 for each of their initiatives, surpassing the 86,499 that were needed. So far, the state has confirmed more than 89,000 valid signatures for each petition and had met the 5% requirement for at least 51 counties — 13 more than required.

If passed by voters, one initiative would allow patients to purchase medical marijuana and another would allow businesses to sell it.

“After years of hard work, we are beyond excited that Nebraskans will finally have the opportunity to have their voices heard on this issue in November,” campaign manager Crista Eggers said in a release on Friday. “Our fight has been long, it has been hard, but we have never given up. Today we celebrate that very soon, patients in this state will have access to medical cannabis treatment. We want to thank all of the Nebraskans who dedicated countless hours and days of their lives to make this possible, and we look forward to the final certification by the Secretary of State in the coming days.”

Eggers told 6 News she went to her son’s school Friday afternoon to break the news to him in person. The fourth-grader suffers from severe epileptic seizures where the only options available now in Nebraska are several pharmaceuticals with plenty of side effects.

If voters approve the ballot initiatives, Colton — and all the other families who have been pushing for legalization for years — will have another treatment option available here in Nebraska.

School choice will also likely be on Nebraska ballots in November, according to Friday’s update from the Secretary of State.

In mid-July, Support Our Schools Nebraska turned in more than 86,000 signatures for the school choice petition, which required about 62,000 signatures. The Secretary of State said Friday that the state had verified that petition surpassed the minimum number and that those signatures represented at least 5% of 57 counties, which was 19 more than required.

“County election offices are verifying the remaining signatures” for each of the three items, according to the Secretary of State’s release.

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