Nebraska’s Republican attorney general said Friday that supporters of two measures to legalize medical marijuana could have submitted at least “several thousand” invalid signatures to get them on the ballot, suggesting that the issue ultimately could keep the proposals from becoming law.
Attorney General Mike Hilgers made the statement during a Zoom news conference in which he and a local prosecutor announced a felony charge against a petition circulator from Grand Island over fraudulent signatures on 38 pages for the two separate initiatives.
Although the issue was “localized,” Hilgers said there were other irregularities implicating many other signatures and the defendant has not been involved in circulating petitions outside Nebraska.
Hilgers immediately faced questions about the timing of his announcement, coming on the last day for the secretary of state’s office to certify initiatives for the November ballot. Hilgers and other conservative Republicans oppose the measures, but Hilgers said petitions for any initiatives would get similar scrutiny.