TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The marijuana referendum, which the majority of Florida voters voted in favor of in 2024, will not be on the ballot in 2026, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier posted on X Monday.

“Smart & Safe Florida failed to get its amendment on the 2026 ballot despite numerous cases of fraudulent petitions,” the attorney general wrote in his post. “The work of our Office of Statewide Prosecution will continue. We will protect the integrity of Florida’s Constitution by holding every last fraudster accountable.”

A Smart & Safe Florida representative, however, shot back, telling Local 10 in a statement that the state’s announcement on the referendum is “premature.”

“We believe the declaration by the Secretary of State is premature, as the final and complete count by county totals for validated petitions are not yet reported. We submitted over 1.4 million signatures and believe when they are all counted, we will have more than enough to make ballot,” their statement read.

Last week, state election crimes investigators were sent to Broward County’s elections headquarters in Fort Lauderdale to investigate marijuana-referendum petitions processed by the Broward Supervisor of Elections Office.

Broward County Supervisor of Elections Joe Scott told Local 10 in a statement that the investigation targets “circulators who were terminated for petition fraud by Smart & Safe Florida.”

Statewide prosecutors have asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to open 46 fraud investigations pertaining to petition organizers.

The proposed marijuana referendum would amend the state’s Constitution to legalize the use of recreational marijuana by those 21 and older – something DeSantis is opposed to.

Smart & Safe Florida released the following statement to Local 10 News last week:

“It is clear that the Secretary is using every means necessary to stifle the voices of over a million Florida voters who have lawfully and legally signed petitions.

“From the month’s-long delay in sending the ballot language to the court to the after-the-fact nullifying of valid petitions, it seems there is nothing that will stop the administration from preventing these voters from having their say.

“Consistent with Florida law, each and every time we found any sort of discrepancy from state-certified petition gatherers, we reported our suspicions to the Secretary of State.

“Even further, we segregate any suspicious petitions before submitting them to county supervisors of elections.

“In short, it appears the Attorney General is taking issue with the fact that we explicitly follow the law.

“We will, of course, continue to work with the state to ensure anyone who appears to be committing fraud is immediately terminated and promptly reported to the state and we hope the Attorney General applies the same vigor to the $10 million HOPE Florida scandal also being investigated by the State Attorney.”

— Smart & Safe Florida spokesperson

Marijuana referendum will not be on 2026 ballot, Florida AG says; at least not yet, others say

About The Author

Christina Vazquez

Amanda Batchelor

Related Stories

DeSantis administration launches probe into marijuana referendum petitions in Broward County