PIERRE, S.D. -   Attorney General Marty Jackley announced today that Circuit Court Judge Mark Barnett has denied Melissa Mentele 's request to place an initiated measure involving marijuana on the November 2016 general election ballot based upon an insufficient number of valid signatures.

“Today’s decision affirms the hard work Secretary of State Shantel Krebs and her Office put into ensuring the integrity of our election process,” said Jackley.

South Dakota Secretary of State previously rejected the measure for lack of valid signatures. Mentele, as a primary sponsor of the measure, asserted that she did not receive proper notification from the Secretary of State of the rejection and requested the measure be placed on the ballot. In denying her request, the Circuit Court found that she did receive proper notification from the Secretary of State and that she had not proven that the petition contained a sufficient number of valid signatures to be placed on the November 2016 general election ballot.

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