Wyoming will try again to legalize medical and recreational cannabis

Activists for a change in laws around cannabis in Wyoming will continue their plan to put questions about legalizing medical and adult-use cannabis on the 2024 ballot, reports local daily Star-Tribune.

The new mobilization of associations Compassionate Options Wyoming, Wyoming NORML and Wyoming Libertarian Party was due to a misunderstanding of the instructions from the Secretary of State's office, which told them that the proposed measures were not eligible, when in fact they were.

Initially, the organizers thought they were thousands of signatures short of what was needed, and so didn't submit them to the Secretary of State's office before the March deadline; in fact, they had reached the threshold. Under the Secretary of State's updated guidelines, the campaign must now collect the signatures and submit them before the next legislative session, which begins in January.

Apollo Pazell, spokesman for the organizers, told the Star-Tribune that the process was «really convoluted and confusing», but that the campaign would seek to extend the process beyond the start of the session due to confusing guidance from the Secretary of State's office.

Wyoming requires organizers wishing to place questions on the ballot to collect a number of signatures equal to 15% of the votes cast in the last general election, and to reach that same threshold in two-thirds of the state's counties in order to put the question to the voters. The petition must be signed on paper, in person.

Once proponents receive their petition form from the state, they have 18 months to collect the required signatures and must submit their petition with the signatures before the start of the legislative session for the year in which they want their initiative to be voted on. The groups collected around 36,000 signatures for both initiatives before the March deadline, said Mr Pazell.

When organizers received their petition in September from then-Secretary of State Edward Buchanan, it was impossible to know how many signatures would be required based on 2022 voter turnout, as the election had not yet taken place, the report states. The required number of signatures based on 2020 voter turnout was 41,776, meaning the measures failed to meet the 15% threshold for two-thirds of Wyoming's counties. However, the Secretary of State's office now reports that, based on 2022 voter turnout, 29,730 signatures are required to place an initiative on the 2024 ballot, allowing petitions to be valid.