State seeks answers on disqualified pot petition

Wednesday, July 1, 1998 | 11:57 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- County clerks in Nye and Lyon counties will be asked to clarify why some voters were disqualified on the initiative petition to permit the medical use of marijuana.

Secretary of State Dean Heller and his staff will be talking to county officials, but will take no action until Tuesday when all counties must report verified numbers on the petition.

The petition's success may hinge on the outcome in Nye County. Clerk Arte Robb checked 1,228 signatures but found only 607 passed were registered voters. A minimum of 926 signatures are required there.

Heller said Robb may have disqualified more than 200 signatures because the person who circulated the petition was not a registered voter. Also, more than 100 voters may have registered after signing the petition.

Heller said only a district judge has the authority to dismiss a petition because the person who circulates it is not registered to vote.

In Lyon County, there were questions in the way the report was submitted, but it appears there are enough qualified signatures, Heller said.

Petition backers gathered 74,466 signatures in 13 of the 17 counties. The law required 46,764 signatures of registered voters or 10 percent of the registered voters in 13 of the 17 counties.

If the petition loses in Nye County, it will not be eligible for the November ballot.

The petition qualified in five counties including Clark, where the verification process is complete. Pamela Crowell, deputy secretary of state, said the deadline for counties is 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Backers have five days to appeal a disqualified petition.

The initiative would allow people, upon the advice of physicians, to use marijuana for curing or relieving pain in a number of illnesses such as cancer and AIDS. Minors would have to receive permission from their parents and the doctor.