MARIJUANA SIGNATURES TO BE RECHECKED

Medicinal-use proposal near to required support in Nye County

CARSON CITY -- Secretary of State Dean Heller directed the Nye County clerk
on Wednesday to re-examine signatures in support of a medical marijuana
initiative and said the results were too close to call. "It will be close,"
he said.

Nye is one of two counties where the ballot question asking voters to
approve the use of marijuana for medical purposes remains in doubt. The
other is Lyon County, and Heller has asked the clerk there to count all
1,391 signatures to determine if the measure qualifies.

Lyon County officials have 12 days to perform the check. If the measure
fails in either county, the proposal by Americans for Medical Rights will
not make it on the November ballot. Under the proposal, a patient could
use, upon the advice of a physician, marijuana for "treatment or
alleviation" of cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, persistent nausea, epilepsy,
multiple sclerosis and other medical problems.

The proposal, one of many being made in states across the nation, has drawn
opposition by people concerned that it would be a step toward legalization
of marijuana.

Heller said the issue in Lyon County is a simple one. A sample showed that
the number of valid signatures was more than 90 percent of the 982
required, but less than 100 percent. The county now will check every
signature. The problem in Nye County is more complex because officials
there did not count many signatures that had minor errors such as incorrect
dates or errors by the person circulating the petition.

At noon Wednesday, Nye County officials submitted a revised count that
showed 752 valid signatures out of 1,228 collected. The revised number
remained 174 signatures short. But Heller, citing a 1994 interpretation of
the signature-verification process by his office, said another 207
signatures should be checked.

These are signatures with no dates or dates earlier than those of the
circulators who turned in the petitions, he said. Signatures could be
rejected if a person signed the petition and then registered to vote after
the fact. Signatures must be from registered voters.

But Heller said the other signatures with disputed dates should not be
disqualified automatically. They should be checked to see if they are from
registered voters, and if they are, they should be counted, he said.

Nye County officials expect to finish checking the 207 disputed signatures
in a day or two, Heller said. If 174 or more are from registered voters,
then the petition will be successful in Nye County, Heller said.

If the number is less, then the petition will fail and not be on the
ballot. If the petition were found to have failed, the medical marijuana
supporters could appeal to Heller and then to District Court to get the
initiative qualified for the November ballot. The petition has qualified in
11 other counties where it was circulated but must qualify in 13 to be
placed on the November ballot.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski