The Florida Supreme Court has declined to intervene in a dispute over tens of thousands of signatures collected for a proposed marijuana legalization initiative, dealing a significant setback to advocates hoping to place the measure before voters.
In a brief order issued Monday, the court refused to review an appeal filed by the campaign Smart & Safe Florida, which sought to restore more than 71,000 petition signatures that state officials had invalidated during the verification process. The justices also stated that “no motion for rehearing will be entertained,” effectively ending the case.
The campaign had asked the court to overturn decisions by state election officials who disqualified roughly 42,000 signatures from so-called inactive voters and about 29,000 additional petitions collected by out-of-state canvassers. Advocates argued the invalidations were unlawful and pushed the campaign below the threshold required for ballot placement.
Under Florida law, citizen-led constitutional amendments must gather 880,062 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. According to the Florida Department of State, the campaign ultimately fell short, with about 783,592 verified signatures after the contested petitions were removed.
The court’s decision follows a separate case in which the Florida First District Court of Appeal asked the state’s highest court to review issues tied to the ballot proposal. That request had briefly reopened the possibility that voters might consider the legalization measure this year, but the Supreme Court ultimately declined jurisdiction.
The initiative campaign has faced multiple legal challenges during the current election cycle. Last year, a court ruled that roughly 200,000 signatures were invalid because the petitions circulated to voters did not include the full text of the proposed amendment. While organizers disputed that interpretation, they chose not to appeal the ruling, believing they had gathered enough additional signatures to qualify anyway.
Opponents of the measure—including the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Florida Legal Foundation—had urged the court to block the initiative, arguing it was constitutionally flawed and represented an abuse of Florida’s citizen initiative process.
The latest proposal came after a similar legalization amendment failed in the 2024 election despite receiving majority support. Florida requires constitutional amendments to earn at least 60 percent of the vote to pass.
With the Supreme Court declining to revive the disputed signatures, the future of the legalization effort remains uncertain, and advocates may need to regroup for a future election cycle if they hope to bring the issue back before voters.
Read the whole article from Marijuanamoment here.
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