Clock Ticking On Ballot Initiatives For School Shelters, Pot Laws
Time is running out in Oklahoma to qualify key ballot measures
by Rick Green, NewsOK.com
Backers of school tornado shelters and legalized marijuana are quickly running out of time to place these issues before voters in November.
Supporters only recently began the official, 90-day period of collecting the tens of thousands of signatures needed to qualify these measures for the statewide ballot.
However, state election officials will be finalizing the Nov. 4 ballot the first week of September. That means the signatures would have to be in hand in August — long before the collection period is over — so they could be counted and verified.
Each measure requires the signatures of 155,216 registered voters to qualify for the ballot.
The 90-day signature-gathering period for these two proposed constitutional amendments ends Oct. 20, the secretary of state’s office said.
If backers get the needed signatures by then, but it’s too late for the November ballot, the measures could be on the next statewide ballot, which is the presidential primary in spring 2016, or the governor could call a special election.