Montana will most likely vote on cannabis legalization in 2020

New Approach Montana, a pro-cannabis association, stated that it had collected enough signatures, despite the difficulties associated with confinement, to present two cannabis legalization initiatives to the next vote in November.

The group submitted over 80,000 signatures for Constitutional Initiative 118, an amendment that would set the legal age to purchase cannabis in Montana at 21. Another 52,000 signatures accompanied a petition for Initiative 190, a separate ballot measure that would authorize cannabis commerce in the state while setting a 20% tax on retail sales.

For the constitutional amendment initiative to be eligible for the ballot, supporters must submit at least 50,936 valid signatures of registered voters and must meet a minimum threshold of signatures in at least 40 of the 100 legislative districts of the Montana State House of Representatives. For the statutory initiative to be certified for the November election, 25,468 verified signatures, including a minimum of at least 34 districts, must be delivered to government officials.

19 American states could legalize cannabis use in 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic.

Strong support for legalization

Despite health-related measures and limited time for canvassing, the campaign was able to gather enough signatures. A judge had also rejected New Approach to collect signatures electronically. The campaign had to hire 200 people to cover the state and gather signatures. County election officials still have to verify each signature to qualify both measures for the November ballot.

Pepper Petersen, spokesperson for New Approach Montana, In November, he believes that «there will be overwhelming support for [legalization] in every corner of the state. There isn't a legislative district that isn't represented in the signatures. We think the support is deep and broad, and that's really exciting.»

Petersen said the campaign had collected far more signatures than necessary and expected both initiatives to successfully qualify for this year's general election.

«We are confident that [...] the verification process will validate our signatures,» he said. «We are delighted with this part of the process. We've been waiting for it for a long time.»