UPDATE: SAFER Claims 110,000 Signatures

UPDATE: According to a press release from SAFER, the group will be turning in 110,000 signatures-about 42,000 more than required. There will be a press conference Monday, held by SAFER, and Confidant Erin Rosa will report on the events.

A initiative that would legalize the procession of up to one ounce of marijuana for adults 21 years and older could be headed for a vote in this year’s election, if officials find the required amount of valid signatures.

Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation (SAFER), the group that is working to get the measure on the ballot, has confirmed that they have obtained enough signatures under state law to put the initiative up for a vote.“We have collected more signatures than required by statute to put the initiative on the ballot,” said Mason Tvert, a SAFER spokesman. “It will depend on whether we get a fair shake from the Secretary of State.”

Political groups wishing to get their issues on the ballot are required to have approximately 68,000 valid signatures statewide. The Secretary of State’s office is the government entity that regulates what is valid and what is not.

While the exact number of signatures collected couldn’t be confirmed, the campaign reported yesterday that they will be turning in their paperwork on Monday, August 7.

Erin Rosa was born in Spain and raised in Colorado Springs. She is a freelance writer currently living in Denver. Rosa's work has been featured in a variety of news outlets including the Huffington Post, Democracy Now!, and the Rocky Mountain Chronicle, an alternative-weekly in Northern Colorado where she worked as a columnist covering the state legislature. Rosa has received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for her reporting on lobbying and woman's health issues. She was also tapped with a rare honorable mention award by the Newspaper Guild-CWA's David S. Barr Award in 2008--only the second such honor conferred in its nine-year history--for her investigative series covering the federal government's Supermax prison in the state. Rosa covers the labor community, corrections, immigration and government transparency matters. She can be reached at erosa@www.coloradoindependent.com.

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