Pubdate: Tue, 29 Jul 2014
Source: Detroit Free Press (MI)
Copyright: 2014 Detroit Free Press
Contact: http://www.freep.com/article/99999999/opinion04/50926009
Website: http://www.freep.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/125
Author: Bill Laitner, Detroit Free Press Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?275 (Cannabis - Michigan)

SNAFU MEANS NO NOV. VOTE ON LEGALIZING MARIJUANA IN GROSSE POINTE PARK

A proposal to legalize possession of marijuana won't appear on
November ballots in Grosse Pointe Park after all.

Organizers of the effort learned Monday that city officials had found
a technicality - an incorrect date of Feb. 27 instead of June 27 on
one set of signatures -- that invalided their petition drive.

"It's my fault - I put down a two rather than a six," said Tim Beck,
62, of Detroit, who helped organize petition drives in 16 other cities
for marijuana questions headed for ballots this year.

The incorrect date invalidated 106 of the 596 signatures that Beck's
group turned in, bringing the total 490 -- fewer than the 495 needed
to qualify the referendum question, Grosse Pointe Park officials said.

"I feel responsible because I should've checked every detail," said
Tom LaVigne, 51, of Grosse Pointe Park, who chaired the petition drive
in his city. LaVigne's law firm, Cannabis Counsel, specializes in
marijuana cases and LaVigne is a long-time advocate of legalizing the
drug, he said.

State law requires that the petition circulators start over and gather
all 495 signatures they need, which Beck said would be impossible
given the deadline of Tuesday to qualify for the November ballot.

In accord with state law, each petition says "in bold big letters"
that the circulator should not sign and date the petition until after
gathering signatures, said Grosse Pointe Park City Clerk Jane Blahut.
Beck claimed that he'd complied with the law and simply written the
wrong date on one set of petitions while correctly dating all of the
others he submitted, Blahut said. "That's possible, but we have to
follow the law," she said.

Checking dates on a batch of petitions "is the first thing we do" when
beginning the process of validating signatures, Blahut said.

The news came as a welcome surprise to City Councilwoman Laurie
Arora.

"I'm very relieved. This isn't what I want our community to be known
for," Arora said.  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D