While the general election is rapidly approaching, one state question seems to have been moving at a snail’s pace.
After a spring challenge of State Question 820’s “gist” that took a couple of months to resolve, supporters of this initiative petition legalizing recreational marijuana again find themselves in front of the Oklahoma Supreme Court after a third-party state contractor validated that their signature submissions met the threshold to qualify for the Nov. 8 general election ballot. But it took that contractor a little longer than expected to administer the state’s new signature verification requirements, so a hearing was held Friday regarding SQ 820 petitioners’ request to expedite ballot title approval and allow for ballots to be printed ahead of a deadline for mailing them out.
The stops, starts, seven-week validation process and Supreme Court hearings have left Oklahomans unclear whether they will be able to decide the fate of SQ 820 in November. Despite the general election being more than three months away, a hodgepodge of deadlines and legal proceedings has left even the most moderate stoners rolling their eyes. Is no one with the Secretary of State’s Office or the Oklahoma Supreme Court hip about time?
SQ 820’s saga has it all: Signatures, ballot language battles and the Oklahoma Supreme Court. But for some onlookers, it seems like the drama has been playing out in slow motion. When will the court rule on this latest motion? Monday? Before the end of the month?
Can the court make its determination in less time than the seven weeks it took Western Petition Systems to validate every signature? Can the court move more quickly than it did back in the spring when the leader of a competing marijuana initiative petition challenged SQ 820’s gist? Did the public even realize that past initiative petitions — such as SQ 788’s medical marijuana legalization — lacked line-by-line signature verification?
Speaking of, a quick look back at one of my prior SQ 788 comics offers a good reminder that policy proposals surrounding marijuana in Oklahoma seem a bit sluggish by nature.
Past Sundaze comics
Appreciating a brief splash on OKC’s art timeline
New OKC arena proposal benefits from public discussion
Burn it down: Sun exacts revenge on Earth
Project Carrot: Oklahoma weighs battery plant options
Gov. Kevin Stitt asks Auditor Cindy Byrd for a TPS report
Epic affidavit makes for light reading over lunch
Recognize the old man’s wisdom this Father’s Day
What would convince Markwayne Mullin to debate?
Overtime: The match continues with special sessions
Professor Swadley and the cheese-melting machine
Call me Tag Agent: In Catoosa, a replacement steps up
Where Mother’s Day comes sweeping down the plain
It’s a tough life being ‘The Patriot’
Frugal rabbit worried about the price of eggs
‘Resistance is futile’: Beware of the Borg in election year
Oklahoma’s mysterious case of The Winchester Burger
Night owls want daylight saving time to be permanent
The power of bitcoin mining in Oklahoma
Does Holland have a snowball’s chance for the Senate?
David Holt rides wave of popularity to reelection
Oklahoma winter weather drifts in and out of our lives
Tom Brady retirement talk: Goodbye to the GOAT?
