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WEBVTT PDECISION. PREPORTER THE SUPREME COURT MADE PTHAT DECISION THIS MORNING, THAT PISSUE SEVEN BE DISQUALIFIED FROM PTHE BALLOT. PMANY PEOPLE I SPOKE WITH HERE IN PBENTON COUNTY FOUND THE LAST PMANY DECISION FRUSTRATING. P>> I'M JUST KIND OF ANGRY THAT PNOW THAT THEY'VE DECIDED OH NOW P, IT SHOULDN'T BE ON THE BALLOT. P>> IT KIND OF MAKES ME MAD PBECAUSE THE PEOPLE SHOULD BE PABLE TO VOTE. PREPORTER: WHETHER THEY WERE PPLANNING TO VOTE FOR, OR AGAINST P, ACROSS-THE-BOARD, VOTERS WE PSPOKE WITH WERE UPSET AT HOW PLATE IN THE GAME THE SUPREME PCOURT MADE THEIR RULING. PCLICK'S I THINK THIS IS VERY PSUSPICIOUS, BECAUSE I BELIEVE PALL OF THE SIGNATURES WERE PCORRECT, AND WITH ALL THE VOTER PFRAUD AND THAT GOING ON, I WOULD PREALLY, THIS IS SUSPECT. PREPORTER: GOVERNOR ASA PHUTCHINSON IN ROGERS THIS PAFTERNOON PHAD THIS TO SAY ON THE TIMING OF PTHE SUPREME COURT'S DECISION. PGOVERNOR HUTCHINSON: THE SUPREME PCOURT'S HAD A REALLY LOAD, PTHERE'S BEEN NUMEROUS CHALLENGES PIN TERMS OF SIGNATURES OR THE PSUFFICIENCY OF THE BALLOT TITLE P, AND THEY'VE ONE BY ONE HAD TO PADDRESS THESE. PI THINK THEY'VE DONE A GOOD JOB PDOING IT METHODICALLY. PTHERE IS SOME THINGS THAT WE CAN PLOOK AT TO STREAMLINE THE PPROCESS TO GET THIS DONE EARLIER P. PREPORTER: ONE VOTER SAYS HAVING PTOO MUCH ON THEIR PLATE ISN'T A PGOOD ENOUGH REASON. P>> I THINK THAT'S AN EXCUSE, MY PMORTGAGE IS DUE ON A CERTAIN PDATE. PYOU KNOW, CAR PAYMENTS DUE ON A CERTAIN DAY. PTHEY SHOULD DO THEIR JOB. P>> THEY SHOULD'VE DONE THEIR DUE PDILIGENCE AHEAD OF TIME. PTHEY SAY THAT THE SIGNATURES ARE PIN QUESTION, BUT THEN IT PSHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ON THE PBALLOT, BUT IT IS ON THE BALLOT P, SO IT SHOULD BE A VOTERS PDECISION. PREPORTER: THE PRESS SECRETARY PSAYS PEOPLE WILL NOT BE ALLOWED

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The Arkansas Supreme Court has disqualified a medical marijuana proposal from the November ballot, but voters will still be able to consider a competing plan. The proposal struck down was The Arkansas Medical Cannabis Act, which appears as Issue 7 on the ballot. Issue 6 will stay on the ballot. Click here to read the court’s opinion in the case. The court invalidated Issue 7 because it found that supporters did not gather enough qualified signatures. The court disallowed more than 12,000 signatures, leaving 65,412 valid signatures. That fell 2,465 short of the required number. The court threw out signatures for 5 reasons listed in the opinion: Some of the petition gatherers did not comply with Arkansas laws on who can become a canvasser. The signatures did not include an address, or included only a P.O. Box address.The canvasser verified the petition before the voter signed it.The canvasser checked an improper box.Canvassers did not specifically witness the signatures. The split court sided Thursday with opponents of the proposed initiated act that would have allowed patients with certain medical conditions and a doctor’s recommendation to purchase marijuana from dispensaries. The proposal was one of two medical marijuana proposals on the ballot, and justices earlier this month rejected a challenge to a competing measure. The ruling comes after early voting began Monday in Arkansas for the general election. Arkansans for Compassionate Care said Thursday it’ll fight the decision by the state Supreme Court to disqualify Issue 7. It was unclear how the group would fight the move since the decision took effect immediately. Both measures called for allowing patients with certain medical conditions to buy the drug, but they differed in their restrictions and regulations. For example, the proposal struck down Thursday would have allowed patients to grow their own marijuana if they didn’t live near a dispensary. Arkansas voters narrowly rejected a medical marijuana proposal four years ago despite national groups spending big in favor of legalization. National support for medical marijuana has grown since then, and half of U.S. states and the District of Columbia have legalized the drug in some fashion. But the medical marijuana push faces more obstacles this year in Arkansas. Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who headed the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, has spoken out against the measures. A coalition of the state’s most powerful lobbying groups - including the state Chamber of Commerce and the Arkansas Farm Bureau - have been campaigning against them. The state Democratic Party’s platform includes general support for legalizing medical marijuana, but the platform is silent on the two ballot measures. The state’s Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, former federal prosecutor Conner Eldridge, has said he supports developing a "responsible" medical marijuana program nationally and in Arkansas, though he isn’t weighing in on the specific proposals.