The battle over recreational marijuana in Florida has reached the state’s highest court, as advocates scramble to save tens of thousands of invalidated signatures ahead of a looming election deadline.
On Monday, attorneys for the political committee Smart & Safe Florida filed a formal notice to invoke the discretionary jurisdiction of the Florida Supreme Court, seeking a final review of a lower court decision that stripped their campaign of momentum.
The legal fight centers on “Initiative Petition 25-01,” a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow the adult personal use of marijuana. To qualify for the 2026 ballot, the group must verify 880,062 signatures from registered voters.
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However, a January 23 ruling from the First District Court of Appeal dealt a major blow to the effort, reversing a previous win for the organizers and siding with Secretary of State Cord Byrd.
At the heart of the dispute are two specific groups of signatures. The first involves 41,894 petitions signed by “inactive” voters—people who are registered but have not voted or updated their addresses recently. State officials directed county supervisors to toss these out, arguing they cannot be used for petition calculations.
The second group includes 28,752 petitions collected by non-Florida residents or non-U.S. citizens, a practice restricted by a 2025 state law aimed at curbing petition fraud.
While a trial judge originally ruled that the state couldn’t disqualify the inactive voter signatures, the appellate court disagreed. The three-judge panel found that the Secretary of State acted within his legal authority to ensure uniform election standards. The court also noted that the organizers failed to prove they had a specific legal right to override the state’s instructions to local election supervisors.
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The timing of the Supreme Court filing is critical. As of late January, the campaign was still roughly 165,000 signatures short of the requirement. By disqualifying the 70,000 disputed signatures, the appellate ruling significantly widened the gap the committee needs to close.
Organizers are now looking to the Florida Supreme Court to intervene and potentially restore those signatures to the count. This marks the latest chapter in a long-running effort to legalize recreational marijuana in the state, following a 2024 attempt that reached the ballot but failed to secure the 60% voter approval required for passage.
The high court must now decide whether to take up the case. If the justices decline to hear it or uphold the appellate ruling, the path to the 2026 ballot will become substantially more difficult for marijuana advocates, who are already facing a tightening window to meet the state’s strict verification deadlines.
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