Appeals fly in pot petition fight

Secretary of State Cord Byrd and supporters of a proposed recreational marijuana constitutional amendment quickly filed appeals after a judge Thursday issued a split decision involving the invalidation of petition signatures for the ballot measure.

Leon County Circuit Judge Jonathan Sjostrom found that state elections officials improperly directed the invalidation of about 42,000 petitions signed by what are known as inactive voters. However, he upheld a separate directive to invalidate nearly 29,000 petitions collected for the marijuana initiative by out-of-state petition gatherers.

Byrd’s attorneys immediately filed a notice of appeal Thursday at the 1st District Court of Appeal, challenging the portion of the ruling related to inactive voters. Meanwhile, the political committee Smart & Safe Florida, which is seeking to place the proposal on the November ballot, filed a notice of appeal Friday morning over the ruling involving out-of-state petition gatherers.

The legal battle comes as Smart & Safe Florida faces a Feb. 1 deadline to submit at least 880,062 valid petition signatures to the state. As of Friday, the Florida Division of Elections website showed 675,307 valid signatures. Smart & Safe Florida has said more than 1 million voters signed petitions supporting the proposal, which would allow people 21 and older to use recreational marijuana.

Smart & Safe Florida filed the lawsuit Dec. 29, naming Byrd and Leon County Supervisor of Elections Mark Earley as defendants.

Part of the lawsuit stems from a Dec. 23 directive from the state instructing county elections supervisors to invalidate petitions signed by inactive voters. Such voters remain registered but are classified as inactive because mail sent to them was undeliverable and their addresses could not be confirmed. Inactive voters can be removed from voter rolls if they do not vote in two general elections, update their registrations or request vote-by-mail ballots.

Smart & Safe Florida argued that petitions signed by inactive voters should not be invalidated because the voters remain registered.

“The absurd result of the secretary’s directive is that ‘inactive’ voters can vote for the proposed amendment but cannot have their petitions counted to place the proposed amendment on the ballot to vote for it,” the lawsuit said.

Byrd’s attorneys countered that the directive was valid and part of efforts to prevent petition fraud.

Sjostrom ruled that state elections officials improperly relied on a 1993 Florida Supreme Court decision to justify the directive, saying it did not reflect changes to state law made in 1994.

The second issue in the lawsuit involves out-of-state petition gatherers and a separate legal challenge to a law passed in 2025. The law barred non-Florida residents from collecting petition signatures for ballot proposals.

Groups including Smart & Safe Florida challenged the law in federal court, and U.S. District Judge Mark Walker issued a preliminary injunction in July blocking enforcement. Smart & Safe Florida used out-of-state petition gatherers during that period. However, in September, a panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed Walker’s injunction, allowing the law to be enforced while litigation continues.

Smart & Safe Florida argued in the lawsuit that Byrd’s office improperly directed invalidating petitions collected during the time the injunction was in effect, contending the out-of-state gatherers were lawfully registered and authorized to collect signatures during that roughly two-month period.

Byrd’s attorneys disputed that claim, arguing Walker’s injunction did not remove the law from effect or make nonresident petition gatherers eligible, even temporarily.

Sjostrom sided with the state on that issue, citing actions taken by Earley in invalidating the signatures.

“The evidence does not support the element of a clear legal right to overturn Supervisor Earley’s invalidation of petitions gathered in violation of the currently effective statute prohibiting collection by non-residents,” Sjostrom wrote. “This circumstance supports judicial restraint, not intervention.”

Smart & Safe Florida also sought to place a recreational marijuana amendment on the ballot in 2024 but failed to secure the required 60% voter approval. Gov. Ron DeSantis led efforts opposing that amendment.

In addition to meeting the Feb. 1 signature deadline, Smart & Safe Florida must receive approval from the Florida Supreme Court for its proposed ballot language. Attorney General James Uthmeier, who also opposed the 2024 amendment, has urged the court to reject the proposal.