The Florida Supreme Court on Monday officially declined to hear a challenge regarding the 2026 recreational marijuana ballot initiative, effectively ending the legal effort to place the measure before voters this year. In a brief order issued March 9, the state’s highest court refused to take up the case brought by the advocacy group Smart & Safe Florida against Secretary of State Cord Byrd.
The dispute centered on whether the Secretary of State had the legal authority to direct local supervisors of elections to invalidate certain petition signatures. These included forms collected by non-resident circulators and signatures from voters listed as “inactive” on state rolls.
While lower courts had debated the specifics of these directives, the Supreme Court determined it would not intervene in the case.
“This cause having heretofore been submitted to the Court on jurisdictional briefs and portions of the record deemed necessary to reflect jurisdiction… and the Court having determined that it should decline to accept jurisdiction, it is ordered that the petition for review is denied,” the court stated in the order. The justices further signaled the finality of the decision, noting that “no motion for rehearing will be entertained.”
The decision follows a March 2 jurisdictional brief from the Secretary of State’s office, which argued that the entire legal matter had become moot. According to state officials, the initiative failed to meet the constitutional deadline of February 1 to secure the required number of verified signatures for the 2026 general election.
Under Florida law, petition signatures for an initiative are only valid until February 1 of an even-numbered year; because the sponsor did not hit the target by that date, the state maintained that all signatures for the “Adult Personal Use of Marijuana” petition have now expired.
Justices Labarga, Couriel, Grosshans, Francis, and Sasso all concurred in the decision to deny the petition.
The ruling leaves in place a previous decision from the First District Court of Appeal. That lower court had found that the Secretary of State holds the statutory power to “[p]rovide written direction and opinions to the supervisors of elections on the performance of their official duties with respect to the Florida Election Code.”
Because the signatures have expired and the constitutional deadline has passed, the initiative will not appear on the upcoming November ballot. The court’s refusal to hear the case effectively closes the door on any further legal maneuvers for this specific initiative cycle.
READ: Florida Supreme Court Refuses To Intervene In Trump Media Venue Dispute
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