The trial over Nebraska’s two medical cannabis ballot initiatives began Tuesday in Lancaster County District Court, highlighting ballot measures in the state, the different groups involved in the campaign, and notary publics, the Nebraska Examiner reports. Both proposals – which together if approved by voters would legalize medical cannabis in the state – remain on ballots but the trial outcome could invalidate the election results.
Attorneys for John Kuehn, a former state senator and former State Board of Health member who filed the lawsuit, and Secretary of State Bob Evnen, a defendant in the lawsuit, sought to frame the case around whether the medical cannabis campaign followed state rules. In a legal brief in the case, Evnen, along with Attorney General Mike Hilgers, contend the campaign engaged in “fraud” and the “malfeasance” of notaries involved “strips the presumption of validity” of thousands of submitted signatures. During arguments on Tuesday, Deputy Solicitor General Zach Viglianco claimed that the campaign cheated in obtaining signatures.
Sydney Hayes, an attorney for the ballot sponsors, argued that plaintiffs don’t have enough evidence of “fraud” and that, at most, one petition contains 706 questionable signatures while
