Florida Marijuana Campaign Takes Fight to Supreme Court, Accuses Officials of Obstructing Ballot Process

In a writ of mandamus filed October 30, Smart and Safe Florida alleges that despite surpassing the 220,000-signature threshold in June, triggering both financial and judicial review, the state has not completed the next required steps. Under Florida law, once the Division of Elections verifies that a campaign has met the threshold, Byrd must formally notify the attorney general, who then transmits the measure to the Florida Supreme Court for a single-subject review. “For reasons unknown, this has not happened, and we are asking the court to intervene and compel the Secretary to simply follow longstanding Florida law as the Smart & Safe Florida has far surpassed that threshold last summer,” the campaign said in a statement.

As of October 31, the group had more than 662,000 verified signatures—well over the review threshold but short of the 880,062 required to qualify for the November 2026 ballot. That deadline is February 1. The campaign says its progress has been slowed by multiple legal battles with the state, including a lawsuit filed October 14 accusing Byrd of attempting to invalidate 200,000 petitions without justification.

Smart and Safe Florida is also part of a broader challenge to HB 1205, a law enacted July 1 that imposes new restrictions and penalties on petition drives. Among its provisions is a ban on nonresidents and noncitizens collecting signatures—a section that was temporarily blocked by a federal judge before being reinstated by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The marijuana group previously made the 2024 ballot with the most expensive initiative in the country that year, but the measure fell short of Florida’s 60% supermajority requirement to amend the state constitution.