US State Rejects Challenge to Marijuana Legalization Rollback Signatures, Clearing Way for November Ballot Vote

Massachusetts officials have rejected a challenge seeking to keep a marijuana legalization rollback measure off the November ballot. Earlier this month, the Secretary of the Commonwealth's Office found that backers of the anti-cannabis initiative had submitted enough valid signatures to qualify. Marijuana reform advocate Kevin Gilnack then filed an objection with the State Ballot Law Commission, alleging some signatures were forged, fraudulently obtained, or not "signed substantially as registered," while others belonged to unregistered voters or people who asked to be removed. He also cited stray marks and non-conforming petition forms. After a hearing featuring testimony from a forensic document examiner, the commission rejected the objection Tuesday in a 16-page ruling: "The Commission overrules Objector's challenges to the initiative petition and the Secretary is ordered to print the ballot question on the November 3, 2026, State Election Ballot." Only four signatures were thrown out, over missing address details; other claims involving illegibility, forgery and stray marks were dismissed. Gilnack's bid to submit affidavits from voters alleging fraud was blocked because those voters hadn't been named in his original filing. The Secretary's office designated the measure Question 8. Lawmakers declined to act on the proposal in May, so organizers needed 12,429 certified signatures by July 1; they submitted 12,889, and 12,551 were validated. Wendy Wakeman of the Coalition for a Healthy Massachusetts, which backs the repeal, said the measure's supporters would now focus on making "the case directly to the people of Massachusetts that it's time to put public health and community well-being ahead of the commercial marijuana industry." The measure would end regulated commercial sales and home cultivation while keeping possession legal and preserving the medical marijuana system. Ryan Dominguez, chair of the opposing Stop the Repeal Campaign, said backers were disappointed by the ruling but confident voters will uphold what they approved in 2016. The measure earlier survived a state Supreme Judicial Court challenge over its ballot summary. In June, the repeal campaign fired a signature gatherer after video surfaced showing him telling legalization supporters to sign so the measure could reach the ballot and then be voted down; he was also collecting signatures for a similar repeal effort in Maine. A staffer for Smart Approaches to Marijuana, whose SAM Action affiliate funds both state campaigns, declined to comment. Separately, the Massachusetts House passed a bill this month establishing a five-year pilot program for psychedelic-assisted therapy.