Florida Officials Miss Counting 54,000+ Signatures For Cannabis Legalization Petition
Smart & Safe Florida filed 783,592 valid signatures ahead of the Feb. 1 deadline
This article was updated Feb. 11. This is a developing story.
Florida election officials appear to have short-changed an adult-use cannabis legalization campaign by more than 54,000 valid signatures.
Local election officials from roughly half of Florida’s 67 counties validated more signatures for Smart & Safe Florida’s initiative petition than what state officials gave those counties credit for, according to a Cannabis Business Times analysis of Florida’s county supervisors of elections’ websites.
The state-versus-county discrepancies for valid signature tallies come after Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd’s office announced Feb. 1 that Smart & Safe Florida’s proposed constitutional amendment to allow those 21 and older to access cannabis failed to meet the signature requirements for placement on the 2026 General Election ballot.
According to the Florida Division of Elections’ website, Smart & Safe Florida filed 783,592 valid signatures ahead of the Feb. 1 deadline, coming 96,470 signatures short of the 880,062 needed to qualify for the ballot.
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