Oklahoma Supreme Court Delays Cannabis Legalization Vote

Oklahoma voters will not get to consider a cannabis legalization question on their November ballots after the state Supreme Court voted on Wednesday to delay the ballot initiative, KOCO News 5 reports.

In its unanimous 9-0 ruling, the court said the legalization campaign ran out of time before the election despite having submitted enough signatures to qualify the ballot initiative. But the campaign’s director Michelle Tilley said in the report that state officials had simply taken too long to certify their signatures in the first place.

While voters will not get to consider the legalization question this November, the court also rejected challenges seeking to defer the ballot initiative entirely, meaning voters will still get their shot at legalizing cannabis but it will have to come later. That could possibly be as early as next year if Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) calls for a special election but if the governor chooses to do nothing, voters may have to wait until the next general election in November 2024.

Tilley told KOCO News 5 that the campaign had hoped to qualify for the November ballot because they believed a bigger turnout would improve the initiative’s chances at winning. Barring that, however, they hope to see the issue go to voters as soon as possible simply because ending cannabis prohibition would be good for Oklahoma.