Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane (R) said in a Monday letter that a medical marijuana initiative failed to qualify for the November ballot, and that possible illegal petitioning has been referred to the Idaho State Police for "review and potential criminal investigation." His office received numerous complaints about the petition drive.
Qualifying required signatures from 6 percent of registered voters (70,725) across at least 18 of Idaho's 35 legislative districts. McGrane wrote: "The petition contains no more than 58,024 county-certified signatures and meets the six-percent legislative-district threshold in only thirteen (13) districts. It is therefore 12,701 signatures short of the 70,725-signature statewide requirement and five (5) legislative districts short of the eighteen-district requirement." Deadlines have passed, so the shortfall can't be fixed.
The letter also flags: circulators who claimed Idaho residency but listed out-of-state addresses or showed out-of-state IDs (residency confirmed for 95, unconfirmed for 293); most petition packets missing required language and a felony warning against forged or duplicate signatures; one county sheet with a signature tied to a voter who died in 2021 and others matching purged voter records, prompting the State Police referral over possible fabrication; and about 175 paid circulators not properly disclosed in campaign-finance reports.
The Natural Medical Alliance of Idaho (NMAI), which ran the campaign, said it was "shocked" and blamed its original petitioning vendor, noting a second firm hired late "was professional throughout." NMAI said it has "zero tolerance for signature fraud" and is reviewing legal options.
NMAI submitted over 150,000 signatures in May. A judge ruled last month that Minidoka County signatures arrived too late, and other petitions faced disqualification risk over out-of-state circulators.
Idaho voters will instead see a legislature-referred constitutional amendment restricting marijuana legalization to lawmakers; legislators also passed a resolution urging voters to reject the petition, citing purported cartel activity, crime and health harms from legalization elsewhere, claims advocates dispute with data showing legal markets shrink illicit sales without raising youth use. NMAI had projected over $100 million in annual sales and $28 million in yearly state revenue from its Idaho Medical Cannabis Act, unveiled last October, which would reclassify marijuana as Schedule II and cap purchases at 113 grams of flower monthly. A February poll found 83 percent of likely voters backed legalization. Separately, Kind Idaho suspended a competing adult-use signature drive, and Gov. Brad Little (R) last year signed a $300 mandatory minimum marijuana possession fine.
