AOI-endorsed petition turns in 125,948 signatures, but is it enough?

While six initiative petition groups turned in their final signatures to the Secretary of State on July 2, the deadline for all measures eligible for the November ballot, all eyes will be on the final signature count for Initiative Petition 50, the AOI-endorsed measure that would transfer the responsibility for re-drawing legislative boundaries from the legislature to an independent panel of retired judges.

Signature gatherers turned in 125,948 for the measure – a little over 15,000 more signatures than the 110,358 required for a constitutional measure. This leaves room for only a very slim, but achievable, error rate. If the Secretary of State finds an error rate of 12% or less, the measure will qualify. However, any error rate in excess of 12% will likely disqualify the measure. For comparison purposes, both initiative petitions that put Measures 66 and 67 on the ballot qualified with a 10% error rate.

It appears that as many as six citizen-sponsored ballot measures will appear in November, including a measure to create a state system of medical marijuana dispensaries as well as a measure to increase minimum prison sentences for sex crimes and drunk driving.

Other measures that appear headed for the November ballot include two measures that would establish a casino in Wood Village and a measure to continue dedicated lottery funding to state parks.

The Secretary of State has 30 days to validate signatures.