A Lancaster County District Court judge said Friday she intends to issue “narrowly” at the end of next week whether to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to invalidate Nebraska’s medical cannabis petitions.
Judge Susan Strong made the announcement during a 20-minute initial briefing on the lawsuit filed by John Kuehn, a veterinarian, rancher, former state senator and former member of the Nebraska State Board of Health. The lawsuit seeks to either remove the two certified marijuana measures from the November 5 ballot or prevent counting of votes and void the election results.
“Hopefully we can all work together and resolve these claims as expeditiously as possible, hopefully before the election, though I understand we don’t have to,” Strong said at the initial hearing. “I think that would be the best course.”
Under state law, challenges to ballot measures can come before or after the election at issue, but Strong and attorneys for Secretary of State Bob Evnen (R) and Kuehn said they were inclined to move quickly so voters know the impact before November’s election.
Attorneys for Evnen and the campaign sponsors each asked for all or part of the lawsuit to be dismissed. The sponsors’ attorneys derided the lawsuit as the “equivalent of a recount.”
Kuehn alleges too many invalid signatures
Hellbound and Down 