Arizona recreational cannabis initiative tallies enough signatures to quality for November ballot

Arizona’s top elections official certified that supporters of an initiative measure to legalize adult-use marijuana collected enough valid petition signatures for the proposal to appear on the state’s November ballot.

Secretary of State Katie Hobbs on Monday said a review indicated that 255,080 of 420,000 petition signatures submitted in July by the Smart and Safe Arizona campaign are valid.

By law, 237,645 valid signatures were required for the adult-use legalization initiative to go before Arizona’s voters.

The certification occurred only days after a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled against legalization opponents who argued that supporters of the initiative didn’t include some principal provisions in a 100-word petition summary of the measure.

Assuming the marijuana measure survives an expected appeal of the judge’s ruling, Hobbs’ certification means the marijuana measure will appear on the ballot and be labeled Proposition 207.

– Associated Press