Saturday, May 8, 2021

Oops!

 Secretary of State Michael Watson issued the following statement. 

The Mississippi Secretary of State's Office recently received notice of a publishing error regarding Initiative 77, which focuses on the legalization of marijuana and cannabis in Mississippi. Pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. § 23-17-11, "The Secretary of State shall publish the title and summary for an initiative measure within ten (10) days after filing such title and summary in a newspaper or newspapers of general circulation throughout the State of Mississippi."

Our office received the ballot title and ballot summary (formulated by the Attorney General's Office) on April 7, 2021. As done in the past, our office quickly distributed the required legal notice, comprising of the ballot title and ballot summary, by using the services of the Mississippi Press Association (MPA), a Jackson-based agency, whose network includes more than 100 publications across the state. While the Initiative 77 legal notice was issued to the majority of the required newspapers, we later learned that MPA failed to properly transmit the ballot title and ballot summary to five newspapers on our required list.

"We deeply regret an error originating in our office that resulted in the omission of the Initiative 77 notice in five newspapers across the state," said Layne Bruce, Executive Director of Mississippi Press Services, Inc. "We pride ourselves on the work we do on behalf of the Secretary of State's Office and other clients, and we take very seriously the rare occasion when we don't deliver the quality job that is expected. We will work diligently to avoid this kind of oversight in the future."

To uphold the integrity of the initiative process, our office instructed MPA to publish the ballot title and ballot summary in the five newspapers their agency accidentally omitted during the initial request. Those newspapers are as follows: (1) Bay St. Louis Sea Coast Echo; (2) Biloxi Sun Herald; (3) Brandon Rankin County News; (4) Charleston Sun Sentinel; and (5) Clarksdale Press Register. The ballot title and ballot summary will be published in the aforementioned newspapers on or before May 13, 2021.

Until the ballot title and ballot summary have been published in all areas of Mississippi, no signatures on Initiative 77 should be gathered. Furthermore, the one-year expiration period will not begin until the ballot title and ballot summary have been finalized, so this will not adversely affect the gathering of signatures. Our office issued a letter to the author of Initiative 77, Dr. David Allen of Moss Point, detailing the publication error and the updated timeline regarding signature collection. We also provided a link to all Initiative 77 proof of publications for transparency.

Click here to view Initiative 77 Proof of Publications.

 


22 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can't support this because of this: It allows the smoking of pot in any location where tobacco is allowed. That means that all of us will have to breath marijuana smoke in public places because of inconsiderate pot heads.

Anonymous said...

Seems to me it may not matter at all. If the Supreme Court strikes down proposition 65 any initiative isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. And these people have to know this. Either they are very smart and know how the court will rule or their incredibly stupid. This isn’t rocket science people. So one has to wonder why file initiatives before even knowing if the process will be struck down. So far there’s prop 65, Medicaid expansion, marijuana legalization and one or two more. The legislature didn’t fix the process on purpose. I can think of nothing that may piss off the Supreme Court more than a shitload of initiatives before they’ve even ruled on the process. These clowns think there smart, but they may have doomed medical marijuana before it even gets off the ground.

Anonymous said...

Sounds to me like Watson's office did its part. This is no different than if he had had carried it to every paper in the state and five of them ran out of printer's ink.

Unless the 'law' considers the secretary to be a publisher, there's no way in hell he 'shall publish'.

Do we fart around now and change the constitution to say, "...shall cause to be published"?

Anonymous said...

Did they distribute far and wide on a more contemporaneous medium such as FaceHook, Twatter, Inst-Skam or BooTube? Any advert dollars going to our esteemed host or other members of the blogosphere as it were? Do any sentient beings read ink smeared wood pulp any more? Inquiring minds and all...

Silence DoGood

Anonymous said...

We still have newspapers?

Anonymous said...

This is not the first time newspapers have screwed up legal notices. It would be SO much better if the law was changed to allow internet publication from the agency's website. That way, the publication is not subject to things that are beyond the agency's control.

Anonymous said...

It will go recreational, so don't worry.

Better Than Ever said...

@4:51 If we invert your statement and analyze it... maybe it yields a better description of the _real_ problem, that a harmful, addictive, and nuisance substance (tobacco smoke) is allowed in public places. I'd say weed is the least of our problems.

In insofar as potheads being inconsiderate... I don't see tons of roaches on the side of the road & sidewalk like I do cigarette butts.

Better Than Ever said...

@5:07 OMFG. You _tried_ to use "they're" twice and missed the mark both times. Also, paragraph breaks are friends to us ALL.

Anonymous said...

4:51 - Please name three public places you go where cigarette smoking is allowed. You may begin...

Anonymous said...

The Fondrenites and the Belhavenites need their pot.

Anonymous said...

I live in rural Attala County and don’t have the luxury of “lightening fast” internet so our paper plays a key role. There are tons of Mississippian’s like us who rely and, quite frankly, enjoy our local paper. Glad this guy had the stones to admit his mistake. BTW, I voted yes on 65 and will on this one if it makes it!

Anonymous said...

8:40 - You out there on that ledge again, threatening to fly?

Anonymous said...

between legalizing this and the lottery we should be able to firm up our position as #1 in poverty and quit jockeying for that role with AR and WV. Go Mississippi.

Anonymous said...

I77 is... Interesting. Not well written and definitely not happening. I65 will be upheld and before I77 receives the signatures it would need (which it won't) it will be federally decriminalized. The timing of this also leads me to believe no one with a background in law wrote this or really helped out at all.

Anonymous said...

What is the argument against letting doctors study cannabis without arrest? Read initiative 77 before you criticize it

Anonymous said...

What is the argument against letting doctors study cannabis without arrest? Read initiative 77 before you criticize it

Anonymous said...

What is the argument against letting doctors study cannabis without arrest? Read initiative 77 before you criticize it

Kingfish said...

The federal ban on marijuana research created much of this problem.

Frank Griffin said...

Amen, Your Highness. (heh, heh)

And in answer to someone above throwing hackneyed shade on Fondren and Belhaven, I am a happy Belhavenite who does not care for weed. I had rather smoke a Padron 1926 Anniversary No. 9 while sipping some Rowan's Creek bourbon on the rocks.

Anonymous said...

Good for you @12:50. Nice to know the spell check Nazi’s are keeping it real. Twenty Lashes at dawn.... did I spell that right?

Anonymous said...

@ 4:51 - Martins downtown, FJones Corner, One Block East to name a few.



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