High Court Times

State Supreme Court to make final decision on marijuana advisory vote

The fate of a marijuana decriminalization vote this fall is now in the hands of the state Supreme Court, who will likely make a decision on it next week.

Recently, both the Santa Fe and Bernalillo county commissions voted to put a non-binding question on their Nov. 4 general election ballots asking voters whether the counties should support decriminalizing possessing small amounts of marijuana. The secretary of state quickly told both counties that they didn’t have the authority to put “poll questions” that don’t carry legal weight onto statewide general elections ballots.

It wasn’t long before both commissions challenged the secretary of state’s decision, with Bernalillo County appealing directly to New Mexico’s highest legal body. Santa Fe County was expected to also file a motion with the high court by the end of Tuesday.

The Santa Fe County Commission specifically instructed its county attorney to “initiate or defend…any action that may be brought to remove the question from the ballot or otherwise challenge the legality of the advisory question.”

Originally, both counties needed their election ballots ready by the end of the week to start sending out ballots to absentee voters on time. But the state Supreme Court issued a stay on the mailing of Bernalillo County ballot and is scheduled to hear the issue on Sept. 23.

“It’s an emergency and concerns an issue of statewide concern,” says Bernalillo County Attorney Randy Autio.

UPDATE

: Santa Fe County has filed an emergency writ of mandamus to the state Supreme Court on the issue. Read below:

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