PETITIONS IN LIMBO FOR NOW

Signature Amount Needed To Qualify Called Into Question

CARSON CITY -- Petitions calling for the Legislature to legalize
marijuana and restrict public smoking remained in limbo Tuesday
because state officials had not decided how many signatures they need
to qualify.

"They all qualified if we use 2002 election numbers, but fail if we
use 2004 numbers," Deputy Secretary of State Renee Parker said.

Under the state constitution, petition circulators must gather
signatures totalling at least 10 percent of the voters in the most
recent general election.

Groups that began collecting signatures last summer were told by the
secretary of state's office that they needed 51,337 signatures to
qualify for consideration at next year's Legislature. This was based
on the number of people voting in the 2002 general election.

However, Parker said an anonymous caller subsequently suggested
election officials should have used the 2004 election when calculating
the required number of signatures.

A record 831,562 people voted in the Nov. 2 election. So if the caller
was right, each petition needed 83,157 signatures.

Of the three petitions that met the Nov. 9 deadline, all qualified if
the 2002 election is used, and none qualified if the 2004 election is
used.

The attorney general's office this week is expected to issue its
opinion on the matter, which state election officials intend to
follow. Parker, an attorney, said preliminary research suggests the
caller was correct.

She acknowledged that petition sponsors agreed to turn in their
petitions after the election as a favor to county clerks concerned
about extra work when they were handling a general election.

If they had turned the petitions in before the election, Parker said
they probably would have qualified with the lower number.

Parker said the Committee to Control and Regulate Marijuana petition
to legalize an ounce of marijuana secured 69,261 valid signatures
after being checked by county clerks and election department workers.

The Nevada Tobacco Prevention Coalition petition to restrict smoking
in most public places secured 64,828 valid signatures.

And the Clean Indoor Act petition that allows some public smoking
received 74,347 valid signatures.

In a 1994 state Supreme Court decision, justices said the state
constitution clearly stipulates petition circulators must reach a
total based on the most recent general election. The decision involved
a cases where petitions to recall a public officer were turned in four
days after an election.

Under the state constitution, legislators must consider all qualified
petitions. If they reject the petitions, then each would appear on the
2006 ballot.