Jaeger approves petition format for circulation

Supporters of amending North Dakota’s constitution to legalize recreational marijuana are taking another run at the issue, after failing to collect enough signatures to get it on the 2020 ballot.

Secretary of State Al Jaeger has approved the petition format for circulation.

If the petitions are submitted when the 2010 census certification is still in effect, the minimum number of qualified signatures required is 26,904. If the petitions are submitted after the certification of the 2020 census, the number of signatures required will be determined based on 4% of the state’s population certified in the count.

Petition gatherers fell just shy of 24,000 signatures in last year’s effort.

Organizers said they were hampered by the coronavirus pandemic.