JEFFERSON CITY • A Cole County judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit seeking to knock one of three initiatives to legalize medical marijuana off the November ballot.

Dr. Brad Bradshaw, a Springfield physician and lawyer, filed a lawsuit earlier this month alleging that circulators with New Approach Missouri broke the law when gathering signatures.

Bradshaw alleged petitions were set out for people to sign, "on multiple occasions" with no circulator present. He also said circulators did not sign petitions in front of notaries, as required by law.

Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce dismissed the lawsuit on Friday.

She said that even if signatures were improperly collected, the Missouri Supreme Court has ruled that the deciding issue when determining to strike a question from the ballot is whether the signatures gathered were of registered voters.

"The only relevant issue at this point is whether the signatures are those of registered voters, not whether each signature was collected in complete compliance with statutory requirements," Joyce wrote in her order.