Recreational Pot Group Has More Than Enough Signatures For Arizona Ballot

Published: Monday, April 18, 2016 - 9:31am
Updated: Monday, April 18, 2016 - 3:21pm
Ted S. Warren/AP/NPR
Marijuana leaves.

Supporters of an initiative to legalize marijuana for recreational use in Arizona say they’ve already gathered more than enough of the necessary signatures for it to appear on November’s ballot.

The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol in Arizona has collected more than 200,000 signatures, about 50,000 more than is required.

But that still isn’t enough...

Campaign spokesman Barrett Marson says, “We’re going to get about 225,000 signatures, a pretty significant cushion to make sure we do qualify for the ballot.”  

He says that’s because they know many will be invalidated if signees aren’t registered voters. But that's a not a huge cause for concern because, “We are also quite frankly registering thousands of new voters through this effort.”

The group has hired professional verifiers to ensure they’ll have enough valid names by the July deadline for the initiative to appear on the November ballot.