TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/Gray Florida Capital Bureau) - Florida voters will not decide on recreational marijuana this November after every initiative petition failed to meet ballot requirements, the Secretary of State’s office announced.

The failed attempts come as new petition rules took effect, creating additional hurdles for ballot initiatives. More than 20 initiative petitions missed requirements this year.

Florida passed a law last year making sweeping changes to the petition process. The changes include a $1 million bond before collecting signatures, requiring paid petition collectors to be Florida residents who pass background checks and shortening the timeline for turning in petitions to election supervisors.

“The number of things that have to be done now to yield a person’s signature as valid — the hurdles have just kept increasing since last year,” said Susan MacManus, a political analyst.

Smart and Safe Florida, the group pushing recreational marijuana legalization, turned in about 783,592 valid signatures according to the Secretary of State, below the 880,062 required.

The group disputes the count. In a statement, Smart and Safe Florida called the Secretary of State’s announcement premature.

“We submitted over 1.4 million signatures and believe when they are all counted, we will have more than enough to make the ballot,” the statement read.

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House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell predicted this outcome when she voted against the law nearly a year ago.

“The people of Florida deserve to have their say, and now they won’t. It’s wrong, plain and simple. It’s anti-democratic, and unfortunately, exactly what we predicted when we were debating this bill last year,” Driskell said.

Florida voters supported marijuana legalization two years ago with more than 50% of the vote, but it fell short of the 60% threshold needed to pass.

The new restrictions have forced other ballot initiatives to restart their efforts. Florida Decides Healthcare, which pushed to expand Medicaid, restarted its effort this week.

“Having to adapt to this constantly changing environment, it was essentially death by a thousand cuts,” said Mitch Emerson, Florida Decides Healthcare executive director.

Attorney General James Uthmeier, who led the campaign against marijuana legalization in 2024, is investigating petition fraud in Smart and Safe Florida’s collection effort under the new law. Last month, a woman was arrested and accused of forging signatures.

“I think this highlights the danger of these petition-gathering processes, things going on the ballot where you have fraud in the election system,” Uthmeier said.

The legislature has two amendments on the ballot already, with a third expected that would significantly cut property taxes.

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