MARIJUANA GROUP SUES BRADBURY

A group running an initiative campaign to legalize marijuana has sued
Secretary of State Bill Bradbury for refusing to accept electronic
signatures gathered on the Internet.

The Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp, which began
collecting signatures through a Web site at www.ballotdirect.com about two
weeks ago, is the first statewide initiative campaign to gather digital
signatures. The group went ahead despite knowing that the state elections
office does not accept them.

State law says petitions can have only original signatures, said Scott
Tighe, the elections office operations manager. Only lawmakers can change
that, he said.

The group has collected about 100 Internet signatures, said chief petitioner
D. Paul Stanford, whose group filed the suit Wednesday in Marion County
Circuit Court.

"We think federal law will be on our side," he said of expected presidential
approval of a bill validating digital signatures.

The group needs 66,786 valid signatures by July 7 to qualify its initiative,
which would allow liquor stores to sell marijuana and the state to tax it.
Supporters say they have collected more than 67,000 signatures through
traditional means -- volunteers and paid petitioners.