Montana Marijuana Legalization and Tax Initiative | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Results by county
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| Source:Montana Secretary of State | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elections in Montana | ||||||||
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Montana I-190, theMontana Marijuana Legalization and Tax Initiative was acannabis legalization initiative that appeared on the November 3, 2020Montana general election ballot. Passing with 57% approval, the initiative legalized recreational marijuana in the state effective January 1, 2021. Along withArizona,New Jersey andSouth Dakota, Montana was one of four states that legalized cannabis via ballot measures in the November 2020 election.
The sponsor of the initiative was New Approach Montana, in partnership with theMarijuana Policy Project.[1]
Initiative I-190 (legislation) and matching constitutional amendment initiative were submitted by New Approach Montana to theMontana Secretary of State in January,[2][3] and approved for signature gathering as of May 1, 2020.[4] Following a lawsuit and a declaration from theMontana Supreme Court, the Montana Secretary of State determined that mail-in voter signatures would be allowed for all initiatives without requiring notary seal,[5][1] and starting May 9, the sponsors made a downloadable mail-in form available.[6] On June 19, groups collecting voter signatures for the legalization initiative said they had submitted almost twice the minimum to the Secretary of State by the deadline.[7] The sponsors announced in July that they had reached the threshold for ballot inclusion, based on county-level voter certification.[8]
On August 13, the Montana Secretary of State announced it had qualified for the November ballot.[9]
The initiative was approved by voters on November 3, 2020.[10]
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size[a] | Margin of error | For | Against | Undecided / Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSU Billings[11] | Oct. 19–24, 2020 | 546 (LV) | ± 4.2% | 54% | 38% | 7% | – |
| MSU Bozeman[12] | Sept. 14 – Oct. 2, 2020 | 1,607 (LV) | ± 3.9% | 49% | 39% | 10% | 2%[b] |
| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Sample size[a] | Margin of error | Yes | No | Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Montana[13] | Feb. 21 – Mar. 1, 2019 | 293 (RV) | ± 5.7% | 51% | 37% | 12% |
| University of Montana[14] | Feb. 12–22, 2020 | 498 (LV) | ± 4.39% | 54% | 37% | 9% |
| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
 Yes | 341,037 | 56.90 |
| No | 258,337 | 43.10 |
| Total votes | 612,075 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | 752,538 | 81.33 |
| Source:[15] | ||
After losing a court battle to collect signatures electronically, New Approach Montana kicked off a statewide signature drive to get two complementary adult-use cannabis legalization measures on the state's 2020 ballot.
