The Nebraska Supreme Court has decided that medical marijuana will not appear on the November 3rd ballot, but expanding gambling measures will be.
The Supreme Court issued their ruling on Thursday, just one day before ballots are set to be printed. Petitions for both measures got enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen qualified the medical marijuana measure but the Court heard arguments against and for the initiative two weeks ago.
In Thursday’s opinions, the Nebraska Supreme Court said the medical marijuana initiative “violates the single subject rule," by not having a “unifying purpose” according to the state constitution. “We would hold that the Constitutional Initiative violate the single subject rule and would find the Secretary of State has shown cause why the Constitutional Initiative should not be placed on the November 2020 ballot,” the court wrote in its opinion.
After the decisions were released, Evnen issued a statement explaining the ballot will be certified to contain the gambling initiatives while the medical marijuana initiative will be withheld. “The Secretary of State is required by statute to issue determinations as to whether initiative petitions are legally sufficient. I did my best to make those determinations on a timely basis,” he wrote. “...Today the Supreme Court issued its decisions concerning these petitions. I respect the rule of law and I will certify the ballot in compliance with the Court’s orders.”