Nebraska's Republican attorney general said Friday that supporters of two measures to legalize medical marijuana could have submitted at least "several thousand" invalid signatures to get them on the ballot, suggesting that the issue ultimately could keep the proposals from becoming law.
Attorney General Mike Hilgers made the statement during a Zoom news conference with a local prosecutor to announce a felony charge against a petition circulator from Grand Island over fraudulent signatures on 38 pages for the two separate initiatives.
While Hilgers and the local prosecutor said the alleged fraud was "localized," the attorney general added that an investigation of the pro-marijuana petitions uncovered other irregularities implicating many other signatures. Hilger said his office's investigation is still open and if it finds enough invalid signatures, the courts could remove them from the ballot, block the counting of votes for them or, if the measures pass, invalidate the new laws.
The attorney general's announcement came on the last day for the secretary of state's office to certify the initiatives for the November ballot. A spokesperson for Secretary of State Bob Evnen said he would respond later Friday.
"The election is around the corner, and the integrity of our elections is of critical importance," Hilgers told reporters.
Crista Eggers, campaign manager for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuna, the group pushing the measures, expressed confidence that "the people's voice on this issue will finally be heard." She said in a statement that the group provides extensive training to its circulators.
"Circulators are held to an extremely high standard and are required to strictly follow all legal requirements for collecting signatures," she said. "Any circulators caught violating the law should be held accountable for their actions."
Dozens of states have legalized marijuana for either medical or recreational use, most recently in Ohio last November. This fall, voters will weigh in on legalizing recreational marijuana in North Dakota, South Dakota and Florida. In May, the federal government began a process to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug.
The Nebraska initiatives are part of broader efforts by left-leaning groups and state lawmakers to force public votes on measures opposed by GOP lawmakers when partisan gerrymandering locks Democrats out of power in legislatures. It's been a successful tactic for backers of legalizing marijuana but also for abortion rights advocates.
Opponents of such measures have filed lawsuits to keep them off the ballot, and Republican-leaning states also have tried to restrict citizens' ability to bypass lawmakers through ballot initiatives and constitutional amendments.
Hilgers' news conference came a day after a former Republican lawmaker in Nebraska filed a lawsuit seeking to block certification of the marijuana initiatives. Ex-state Sen. John Kuehn, a Republican, said he believes he can show that too many signatures are invalid but the secretary of state's office improperly stymied his efforts to build his case before the certification deadline.
Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana gathered more than 114,000 signatures -- far more than the approximately 86,000 needed -- for each of two petitions. One would allow marijuana for medical use and the other to regulate the medical marijuana industry in the state.
It's the third effort by the group to get the issue on the ballot. In 2020, opponents successfully sued to keep a measure off the ballot, and in 2022, supporters had only months to collect signatures and failed to get enough.
The criminal case in Nebraska came after officials in Florida and Kansas accused two petition circulators of forging voter signatures during campaigns to put an abortion rights measure to a vote in Florida and to allow the No Labels party to put candidates on the Kansas ballot. Neither successful petition drive appears to have depended on the signatures the two submitted.
The local prosecutor pursuing the Nebraska criminal case, Hall County Attorney Martin Klein, said the circulator who has been charged worked mostly in a neighboring county and did not work outside Nebraska. It was not clear whether he was paid, something allowed by Nebraska law and typical for groups because of a requirement that signatures come from at least 38 of the state's 93 counties.
The man faces a single charge of falsely swearing to a circulator's affidavit on a petition, which can be punished by up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. A phone call to a number listed for him would not go through and he did not immediately return a Facebook message.
Hilgers immediately faced questions about having his news conference on the last day for certifying the initiatives because he and other conservative Republicans oppose the measures. Hilgers said it took that long to uncover the problems and petitions for any initiatives receive similar scrutiny.
"We will have more to say," Hilgers said. "Today is the deadline for the secretary of state, but it is not our deadline in order to complete our work."