D.C. WON'T DISCLOSE VOTE, CITES CONGRESS' PRESSURE

WASHINGTON -- The District of Columbia Board of Elections, citing
pressure from Congress, said Tuesday that it will not release the
results of a ballot initiative aimed at legalizing the use of
marijuana for medical purposes.

In a statement released late Tuesday, Benjamin Wilson, chairman of the
district's Board of Elections and Ethics, said the board had been
instructed by Congress that a district spending bill passed last month
prevented not only certification of the election results but their
release to the public in any form.

The spending bill included an amendment that prohibits the use of any
local funds to conduct the ballot initiative.

The American Civil Liberties Union last week filed a suit in U.S.
District Court to declare the ban unconstitutional.

The Board of Elections said Tuesday it would separately ask the court
to decide whether it must "abide by the 1st Amendment to ensure the
free-speech rights of District of Columbia citizens are protected or
whether it must follow the prohibition" passed by Congress.

Wilson noted that the initiative, put on the ballot after supporters
collected 32,000 signatures, was made part of the ballot and was
distributed to absentee voters before Congress passed the district's
spending bill Oct. 21.

"Therefore, it was physically impossible, as well as financially
impracticable, for the board to reprint and issue new ballots without
including the (initiative) test . . .," Wilson said.

He said the board would comply with the congressional directive and
was reluctant to "enter into a political dispute with Congress," but
he said the board needs instruction from the court on how to proceed.

Wayne Turner, who spearheaded the campaign to legalize marijuana in
the district, said Board of Elections workers had been threatened by
members of Congress with criminal contempt citations if they released
the results of the vote.

"This makes me afraid," he said, calling the decision to withhold the
vote tabulation "a huge can of worms. We worked so hard to collect
these votes and get this initiative on the ballot. I just want to know
how we did."

The initiative was expected to pass here, as were similar measures on
five states' ballots.

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady