Nebraska Judge Says Yes To Counting Medical Cannabis Votes This Election, Despite Anti-Weed Lawsuit
A district court judge in Nebraska ruled that votes for and against the state’s medical cannabis ballot measures will be counted and made public. With the last week’s ruling Lancaster County District Judge Susan Strong rejected a request to halt the process.
What Happened
John Kuehn, who has served in the Legislature in 2015-2019 and has been a leader in the anti-legalization group Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) filed a lawsuit in September attempting to block the measures from reaching the ballot. Kuehn called for the invalidation of signatures on both petitions, which he argues could undermine the integrity of the certification process.
Attorney Anne Mackin filed a request on behalf of Kuehn to stop vote counting, suggesting that the ongoing litigation could invalidate the measures. One measure seeks to legalize medical cannabis (the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Protection Act), while the other would regulate …