In April, Idaho Governor Brad Little, R, signed SB 1110 into law. This created a more restrictive ballot initiative process. Now, activists needed to collect six percent of signatures from each of the state’s 35 legislative districts. Previously, they only needed to collect from 18 districts. 

Shortly after Governor Little signed SB 1110 into law, activist group Reclaim Idaho filed a lawsuit against the state. They argued that the new restrictive process impeded citizens’ rights to have their input and say in the legislative process. On Monday, August 23, the Idaho Supreme Court gave their verdict. SB 1110 was unconstitutional and became overturned immediately. 

Ballot Measures

The Personal Adult Marijuana Decriminalization Act (PAMDA) began collecting signatures at the start of August, working diligently to meet the 35 district signature requirements. However, with SB 1110 overturned, they will have a much easier time meeting the requirements. For PAMDA to qualify for the 2022 ballot, activists must turn in 65,000 valid signatures by May 1, 2022 to the Secretary of State. 

Activist Response

Once the Supreme Court released their verdict, activists and organizations took to social media to express their excitement. Idaho Way, the organization sponsoring PAMDA, tweeted about the overturn, cheering for the advancement of their bill. 

Russ Belville is a spokesperson for Idaho Way and the chief petitioner for PAMDA. He spoke with Marijuana Moment about the supreme court’s assessment of SB 1110. “We are excited that the Idaho Supreme Court recognized that SB1110 was an obviously unconstitutional attempt to kill petitioning rights,” Belville said. “With this ruling, we are now able to move forward with our PAMDA initiative to decriminalize marijuana purchased legally out of state while we continue to support the IMMA medical initiative.”

Belville also took to Twitter to share his thoughts about the change and encouraged Idaho voters to sign the petition. He says it’s now time to get cannabis on the ballot and legalize what the people are already doing.

Mississippi activists and voters are experiencing a similar situation. In May, the state’s Supreme Court overturned the entire ballot initiative process when a lawsuit was filed against the medical cannabis legalization measure. Now, lawmakers will have to rewrite the law to give the Mississippi people their right for ballot initiatives back. 

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