Searcy (LP)  The Arkansas Supreme Court has taken Issue 7 off of the ballot for November. Issue 7, also known as the Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act, was one of two medical marijuana initiatives on the November ballot. Issue 6 is the second medical marijuana proposal. “Because we conclude that the total number of signatures which should have been counted by respondent falls below the statutory minimum, we grant the petition,” the No. cv-16-78 court ruling stated. In order for a ballot measure to be placed on the general election ballot, there must be 67,887 signatures of registered voters submitted with the petition. Arkansans for Compassionate Care 2016, the sponsor of Issue 7, initially submitted 117,547 signatures, of which 77,516 were validated.

Lion Press attempted to contact the Arkansas Supreme Court justices for an interview, but was instead directed to a copy of the court’s decision and justification. According to Associate Justice Karen R. Baker, petitioner Kara L. Benca “…argued that the signatures should be disqualified because the sponsor intervenor failed to provide canvassers with a secretary of state handbook, failed to train canvassers in the law, failed to provide a list of canvassers to the secretary of state, and failed to provide a state police criminal background check within 30 days of a canvasser registration. Many Arkansans were upset with the removal of issue 7 because they feel that it should have been reviewed before people were allowed to vote on it. According to Brandy Michelle, who voted before the act was removed, “I would have voted differently on issue 6 and issue 7 if I had known that issue 7 would have been removed.” Issues 6 and 7 were running against each other, so many people who wanted issue 7 to pass voted no on issue 6.

Although several Arkansans protested and attempted to contact the Arkansas Supreme Court Justices, it could not be put back on the ballot due to the faulty signatures and because of the fact that they had already taken it off because there was too much incriminating evidence to let it slide. Some people were angered not because of the fact that the act was taken off of the ballot, but because it was taken off after it had been voted on and even after its removal, several people continued to vote on it, unaware that it was invalid. In an interview with Arkansas Secretary of State Mark Martin, after being asked if he agreed that it was unfair that the issue was removed so late in the game, he stated, “It is perfectly fair because notices were posted and it was widely known that the issue was removed. It is the public’s responsibility to be aware of these things and vote accordingly.”

Issue 6 passed with a 52% yes vote, but many believe it would have been much higher if issue 7 had never been on the ballot. According to Michelle, “This is a step in the right direction and maybe soon we will have a chance to vote on something more like issue 7.”